


The Right Earp

by gwcarver



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, Love Triangle, Medieval AU, Slow Burn, royal au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwcarver/pseuds/gwcarver
Summary: Wynonna has recently been named head of House Earp, the biggest house in the West. With invaders rising up and threatening peace, her regents procured an agreement with another house to secure the Earp legacy.Royal/Medieval AU with terms taken from Game of Thrones (but not Game of Thrones AU, no dragons :)).





	1. Chapter 1

“Are you out of your fucking mind?!”

Wynonna paced in her council chambers, facing her two Hands and former regent, now advisor. They looked at her expectantly, unaffected by her outburst, and sat calmly in their chairs around the table. They were used to Wynonna’s habit of pacing during council meetings, unable to focus on important matters without a nervous energy coursing through her. _She_ was head of House Earp, one of the major houses in the West with nearly fifteen minor houses pledging fealty, and it was a lot of responsibility for someone only twenty-seven years old.

Especially for someone who wasn’t even supposed to be the heir, only the spare.

“Lady Earp…” one of her Hands started.

“Wynonna,” she interrupted sharply, still walking back and forth. “You know in here it’s just Wynonna, Dolls.”

Xavier Dolls cleared his throat. He was always one for rules and formalities, especially when it came to his main task of managing House Earp’s defense strategies and bannermen.

“Wynonna,” he continued. “It’s a sound plan, especially considering the situation we’re in.”

“What about the long-term consequences?” Wynonna’s other Hand interjected, his dark mustache twitching suspiciously. “This plan works for fifty, sixty, or even seventy years, and then what happens?”

Wynonna stopped pacing and watched as Dolls glared at her other Hand, Doc Holliday, who oversaw the House guards. Dolls and Doc had always competed against each other, always been at odds, and this only intensified when she had named them both Hand of the Lady when she officially became House head six months ago.

It was unusual, but a body worked best with a head and two hands, after all.

“We name another heir at the appropriate time,” Dolls answered deliberately, his patience wearing thin at Doc’s objection.

“What does that –" Doc protested, abruptly standing up from his chair.

A harsh side-eye from Wynonna prompted him to shut his mouth and sit back down.

“Wynonna,” her advisor, Gus McCready, said calmly, throwing her own voice into the discussion. “When Curtis and I were your regents, we arranged this before you were officially named head of the House. It’s done. You just need to accept as a formality.”

Gus looked at Wynonna with the usual fierceness in her eyes. She had ruled as the Earp regent for fifteen years with her husband, Curtis, preserving the Earp legacy while Wynonna came of age. Wynonna was only twelve years old when the sudden death of Ward Earp and heir apparent Willa had nearly dismantled the House, but the McCreadys had faithfully served as House Earp’s stewards for over a hundred years, and they stepped in to guide the House until it could stand strong again.

“But it doesn’t even make any sense, Gus,” Wynonna said, still standing and gripping the chair in front of her. “House Haught has pledged loyalty to the Earps for generations, why do we even need to do this?”

“The circumstances have become more serious, and we need an unwavering alliance,” Dolls explained. “With House Del Rey increasing their pillaging and causing chaos further into our land, we _need_ the complete support of the Haught army to protect our territory.”

“And they do have the biggest army in the West,” Doc admitted.

“And _they_ need House Earp’s financial assistance,” Gus further reasoned. “They’re completely in debt, but we can easily consolidate it with our surplus.”

Wynonna sighed. It _sounded_ reasonable and straightforward, yet the plan they were proposing was still _insane_.

The Earp great sword hung on the stone wall across the room. It had been passed from heir to heir since the beginning, forged from steel infused with ammolite. The sword was almost as tall as a man and required two hands to wield it. The blade was dark but had a slight orange glow at just the right angle. Peacemaker.

Wynonna slowly walked up to the Peacemaker and ran her fingers lightly down its edge, thinking of House Earp’s motto: “Make your peace.”

On the battlefield, it was a menacing last phrase to throw in the face of an enemy, but in this context it reminded Wynonna of her duty as head of House Earp. She swallowed, then turned back to face her council with a resigned smile.

“So since you’ve already arranged our marriage, when do I get to meet Lady Nicole?”

 

* * *

 

Nicole Haught sat and braided her hair swiftly, her fingers automatically weaving her red hair into a French braid from years of practice. A few days ago, her father and mother had been called away to oversee a siege between some borderlands, leaving her behind to act as head of House Haught.

 _To protect and serve._ That was the Haught motto, and it showed on their house banners: a silver shield on a field of dark blue edged with turquoise. The Haughts took to protecting their land and people very seriously, especially as times had become increasingly volatile in the Western territories. House Del Rey, in particular, had begun trying to increase their lands beyond the rocky coastline, rounding up forgotten houses who wanted to gain power.

The Haughts had been House Earp’s bannermen as far back as anyone could remember, and recently they had been stretching themselves thin sending troops across the continent to maintain the peace.

And now House Earp was bringing a retinue to call upon them and honor an agreement the House Earp regents had made with her parents two years ago.

A marriage agreement between their two heirs. Two daughters.

Nicole sighed. It was unorthodox, but it was probably the best possibility for her. Growing up, she never looked forward to marrying a lord and bearing him heirs. At least in this union it was more of a partnership that further solidified the two houses’ loyalty to one another.

Her father had said it was her choice whether to formally accept the engagement, but he stressed the debt that had accumulated for the House.

“Our coffers are nearly empty,” he admitted to her in his private chambers the night before he left. “At this rate, we’ll have nothing in ten years.”

“The Iron Bank…?” Nicole offered.

“With our debt, they won’t even reply to the ravens we sent,” Lord Haught answered in a defeated tone. “We could keep borrowing from the Earps, but they practically own us already. At least with this marriage, we’ll get to stay our own feet.”

Nicole nodded then, understanding that her duty had always been to marry into a House that would support her own.

“I had them send over a likeness of Lady Earp,” Lord Haught said gently, seeing his daughter’s obedience. “I know you haven’t seen her since the last tournament at the Earp Homestead sixteen years ago.”

Nicole smiled, remembering watching the eleven year old Wynonna tussling with her older sister Willa on their raised seats during the tournament. Lord Earp had scolded them for causing a disturbance during the joust event, but they only replied by sticking their tongues out at him. Lord Earp reacted by sticking his own tongue back.

Nicole never met them, only sitting with the rest of the spectators in the stands, but she remembered Wynonna’s dark brown hair and sly smirk.

“It’s okay,” she said, dismissing her father’s offer on seeing Wynonna’s picture. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“If she’s a dickhead, you don’t have to marry her,” Lord Haught joked, pulling his daughter into a tight bear hug. “But I did hear that she’s grown up to be a very beautiful woman.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, but the dimples in her cheeks showed through a smile she couldn’t suppress. “Looks aren’t everything.”

“No, you’re right,” he said, nodding in agreement when they separated. A grin slowly took over her father’s face, and he gave a quick wink. “But they can certainly make things easier.”

 

* * *

 

Nicole took a steadying breath as the first red and navy banners of House Earp trotted into the gates of Haught’s Keep. The Earp banners had their famous great sword, Peacemaker, against a red background with dark blue stripes, and in the Western territories, it was the banner that most often hung alongside the minor houses that lorded over the population.

Following the Earp banners was a carriage surrounded by guards, and it wheeled smoothly over the cobbled entry way.

Nicole approached the carriage while a guard opened the door. When she saw someone in a dress emerge, she immediately kneeled, lowering her head and offering a hand to assist.

“Lady Earp, it is an honor to welcome you to Haught’s Keep.”

A giggle interrupted Nicole’s formalities and made her tilt her gaze back up.

After her talk with her father, Nicole hadn’t been sure what to expect, especially since her fuzzy memories were from so many years ago, but she didn’t expect her breath to get caught in her chest and her rehearsed words of welcome to be completely forgotten.

No, Nicole didn’t expect both her mind and body to stop working when she saw the woman in front of her.

A strikingly beautiful woman with long brown hair and an amused smile looked back at her. She delicately took Nicole’s hand as she stepped down from the carriage, and Nicole felt a trail of goose bumps shiver down her forearm.

Watching her, Nicole’s throat went dry on the words she was supposed to say, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away. The guards and staff nearby seemed to disappear, and all she could see was the sun glinting off the woman’s silky hair as she swept it back behind her shoulders.

Maybe the whole arranged marriage situation would be even better than Nicole hoped.

“Thank you, Lady Nicole,” the woman said softly, breaking the silence. “I’m Waverly.”

Nicole blinked. _Waverly…?_

A shuffling from the back of the carriage jarred Nicole’s mind back.

“Hey, hey,” Wynonna offered as an awkward greeting. She jumped down from the carriage without waiting for assistance and stretched, releasing a loud groan. “You must be my blushing bride-to-be.”

When Wynonna’s smirk appeared on her face, Nicole let out a small laugh.

Of course.

 

* * *

 

Nicole led Wynonna and Waverly down the winding hallways to the guest chambers with Dolls and Doc following closely behind. She couldn’t help but eye the huge sword strapped to Wynonna’s back and notice the clumsy way Wynonna’s gait unnaturally compensated for the extra weight. With House Haught’s emphasis on physical training, it was clear to Nicole that Wynonna had no idea how to handle the great sword, which made it a danger to the person it was meant to protect.

“You didn’t have to bring any weapons, my lady,” Nicole started, trying to keep a respectful tone. “No one has ever breached the Keep’s walls.”

“Peacemaker goes where I go,” Wynonna said simply. “And you can never be too care—“

Nicole swept her arm up in the middle of Wynonna’s sentence and released the buckle on Wynonna’s chest with a flick of her wrist. Peacemaker fell from Wynonna’s back and clanged on the ground.

Dolls and Doc immediately unsheathed their swords and pointed their blades at Nicole, who held her hands up in surrender.

“Just wanted to show that House Haught is more than capable of protecting Lady Earp,” she said calmly. “And maybe we could help with training during your visit.”

There was a tense pause, but finally Dolls lowered his sword.

“She could do with more training,” he admitted.

“Hey! I _have_ been training,” Wynonna insisted, grunting as she picked Peacemaker back up and struggled to attach the straps back over her shoulder. Waverly moved to help, but Wynonna waved her away stubbornly.

Nicole looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re okay, my lady?”

“Just call me Wynonna, Haught,” Wynonna said, rolling her eyes. Unable to clasp the buckle back across her chest, she let out a frustrated huff. “…and maybe some help would be nice.”

Wynonna muttered and cursed under her breath, but Nicole only smiled while she held the weight of the Peacemaker behind Wynonna as she tightened it back into place. Waverly stood in front of Wynonna and helped her adjust the buckle into the right position. Her eyes darted to Nicole, but she quickly looked away when their eyes met.

Nicole felt her body freeze at the eye contact, and she thought she saw a blush forming across Waverly’s face. 

Dolls cleared his throat to get her attention.

“What’s on the itinerary for this evening, Lady Nicole?” he asked. “I’m going to need to check with your sentinel about security protocols.”

Nicole let out a laugh. “Sir Nedley won’t like it, but I’m sure he’ll comply with whatever House Earp requires. Our staff is busy with the welcoming feast and preparing for the tournament to honor your arrival, my la – uh, Wynonna.”

Wynonna smiled at Nicole’s correction. “A tourney, huh? Doc’s the fastest swordsman in the West. I’m sure he’d do House Earp proud in the melee.”

Doc chuckled, a smug grin spreading across his face. “But who will protect our dear Lady Wynonna while I’m winning the melee?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Wynonna replied. “There’s nowhere safer than next to a Haught.”

She winked at Nicole, who laughed in response. “Plus you have a big ass sword,” Nicole offered with a mischievous smirk of her own.

“Damn right!” Wynonna agreed enthusiastically. “Hey Waves, that should be our new motto: the House with the Big Ass Sword.”

“I don’t think Gus would be happy about that,” Waverly said through a stifled giggle.

Nicole’s ears perked up at the sound of Waverly’s laugh, but she shook her head to keep her mind on Wynonna. There was too much at stake to be distracted by someone she had only just met. Still, she couldn’t help but want to hear it again.

“And here are your chambers,” she managed out when they reached the doors. “I hope you will find your stay comfortable.”

“I’m sure it will be,” Wynonna said. “Thank you, Lady Nicole.”

Wynonna’s characteristic smirk had faded away and in her softened face, Nicole could see a vulnerability peeking through her sarcastic exterior. Nicole gave a tight smile to slow down the sigh that was unexpectedly escaping her chest.

Her father had been right: Wynonna _was_ really beautiful.

She could be happy with her. She could make it work.

“Please, just call me Nicole,” she replied, echoing the words Wynonna said moments before.

In an instant, the smirk returned. “Alright, Nic.”

Nicole lifted her eyebrow again. “Don’t push it.”

Waverly laughed at the exchange, and Nicole’s heart jumped slightly, stumbling her concentration. She swallowed to maintain her composure and bowed slightly before leaving them in the guest chambers.

When the doors had closed firmly behind her, Nicole reached up run a nervous hand through her hair and let out a shaky breath.

_Wynonna. Focus on Wynonna._

 

* * *

 

“She seems great!” Waverly said brightly when Nicole had left them alone. She hoped that she didn’t sound too perky, but Wynonna only rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wynonna muttered in an annoyed tone. “Don’t let Gus know that she was completely right about the Haughts – her ego won’t be able to fit in the council chambers.”

Waverly smiled and moved to look out the window, trying not to let the sensation of her chest being squeezed show to the others in the room. She leaned on the stone window sill, steadying her trembling hands.

When they first arrived, she thought it was funny when the kneeling woman had mistaken her for her older sister, but when she saw Nicole’s face, it felt like her ribs had tightened around her upper body, making her heart flutter and beat erratically. It had taken all her willpower keep her face calm and utter out her own name.

Last week she had practically begged to accompany Wynonna to Haught’s Keep. She had never left the Earp Homestead before, and she was incredibly curious to see more of the continent and learn firsthand about the houses she had read about in history books. Waverly also wanted to make sure that the Haught heir would be a suitable match for her sister, but actually meeting Nicole only made her mind muddled and confused.

On first impression, Nicole was wonderful, just like Gus had described before they left the Homestead: smart, loyal, clever.

But Waverly couldn’t forget the way that her face heated up whenever their eyes met and the way her mind became blurry when her thoughts trailed back to their encounter. And she had no idea what any of that meant.

Waverly heard Wynonna fumble with the chest strap for Peacemaker’s scabbard and clatter it heavily against the table in the room.

“At least she’s not too bad on the eyes, huh, fellas?” Wynonna suggested.

Dolls only stared blankly back at her, while Doc stuttered out something nonsensical in his accented drawl.

Wynonna let out a frustrated breath. “Wave, back me up here?”

Waverly forced a smile on her face when she turned back around from the window to face the others. “Um, well, I mean, her last name is Haught, so…”

“Yes! Thank you! At least _someone_ gets me around here,” Wynonna said, shooting glares at Dolls and Doc.

Dolls kept his face expressionless and cleared his throat again to dismiss Wynonna’s antics. “I’m going to meet with Nedley to double-check security. Doc, please get your men to guard our ladies’ chambers while they get ready for dinner.”

Doc nodded his compliance as Dolls exited. Doc smoothed his hair and took a step toward Wynonna. “I think you would be real pretty in blue,” he offered, bowing his head slightly before following Dolls out the door.

The corners of Wynonna’s mouth twitched into a tiny smile, but her face scrunched up rebelliously when she caught Waverly giving her a look. “Waverly, we are both grownups…”

“Yeah, well, one of you is supposed to be engaged in the next week. A little unseemly to be flirting with other people right in her own home, don’t you think?” Waverly said stiffly, crossing her arms.

“It’s really more of a political partnership,” Wynonna clarified stubbornly.

Waverly continued to stand with her arms crossed, and Wynonna sighed, throwing an arm around her younger sister’s shoulders. “I know, I know. I’ll be better, I promise, baby girl.”

Waverly let her serious face break into a small smile then and leaned her head into Wynonna’s shoulder. “Good, because I know perfect blue dress to impress Nicole.”

 

* * *

 

Wynonna expected her visit to meet Nicole Haught to be simple and straightforward. She expected to be welcomed to Haught’s Keep with the usual pleasantries, confirm Nicole was a decent person, iron out the details of their marriage alliance, and then head back home.

She didn’t expect to find someone that was comfortable with challenging her right away and who could match her quick wit and tone, all while flashing a gentle smile that could make someone forget the words they were about to say.

And her laugh; Wynonna didn’t expect to enjoy making Nicole laugh so much during dinner with her crude humor and awkward commentary. Most people rolled their eyes or ignored Wynonna’s jokes, but Nicole’s brown eyes seemed to shine with a playful twinkle, which caused a warm feeling to wash over Wynonna whenever Nicole looked at her.

“You know, one time, Lady Stephanie told me that I should get my dressmaker to add more fabric to my skirts because my butt is too small,” Wynonna said petulantly when Nicole was asking about her court.

“What?!” Nicole blurted out in disbelief. Wynonna laughed at Nicole’s immediate and visceral reaction.

“Your ass is like…” Nicole continued, pausing to find the right words. “It’s top shelf, man. It’s top shelf.”

“Thanks,” Wynonna replied gratefully, duly noting that Nicole had done more than hold Peacemaker behind her earlier. She watched Nicole as she sipped her wine, thinking that she could say anything, and Nicole would take it in stride and respond in the most perfect way.

And that was something Wynonna had never experienced with anyone except Waverly.

…And Willa, but Willa was gone.

Nicole grasping Wynonna’s hand interrupted her somber thoughts, and Wynonna could hear a string quartet playing, which signaled the end of dinner.

“Sorry, that means the whole court’s gotta dance,” Nicole said apologetically.

“Ugh, really?” Wynonna whined, letting Nicole lead her where everyone was lining up in the middle of the dining hall.

Nicole stood with the court’s gentleman across from Wynonna, having learned both parts from her tutor. She bowed when the dance began and Wynonna reluctantly curtsied back.

They met in the middle to circle each other with their palms held up as part of the well-known routine, and Wynonna groaned. “I hate this court dance stuff.”

Nicole shot back easy grin that showed off her dimples, trying to lighten the mood. Her eyes shifted away for an instant, flickering across the room to Waverly dancing with one of the Haught bannermen. “It’s not so bad if you’re with the right person.”

Nicole’s tone was wistful and her eyes returned to Wynonna, suddenly noticing how her blue eyes somehow flawlessly matched her dress. Wynonna’s face had also changed, becoming that vulnerable softness again at Nicole’s words. Wynonna’s lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile that made her feel like they were the only two people in the entire world.

Nicole felt another sigh escape her chest then, her teasing grin melting away into a look of adoration while they danced. It wasn’t the same fluttering feeling she had with Waverly, but in that moment, Nicole felt like she could spend her whole life trying to get Wynonna to look at her that way again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Experimenting with romantic Wynaught, though I still love Wayhaught, so obviously I had to write a love triangle story. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments or you can go to my tumblr - gwcarver.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Wynonna tried to leave the guest chambers as quietly as possible. The first rays of dawn were barely peeking through the night sky, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t sleep. Her mind kept playing tricks, pretending to let her drift off then flashing images of the night fifteen years ago when House Del Rey invaded the Earp Homestead.

The night before the invasion was the last time she ever had a full night’s sleep.

After spending hours tossing and turning, Wynonna decided to take a walk around the grounds. It would be more productive and let her mind process new things rather than repeat old memories over and over.

She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.

Wynonna strode quietly down the dimly lit hallway, stopping abruptly when she heard approaching footsteps. Her hand instinctively moved to Peacemaker on her back, but she relaxed when she saw a blaze of red hair emerge from the shadows.

Nicole showed a look of surprise, then her characteristic smile spread across her face.

“I’m head of the biggest house in the Western territories, dealing with invaders and fifteen years of insomnia – what’s your excuse?” Wynonna asked smartly after a moment’s pause. Those damn dimples.

“Nedley,” Nicole deadpanned, dropping her smile for a more serious look and picking up Wynonna’s sarcastic tone.

“Say no more,” Wynonna said, nodding in understanding. “Hands, sentinels… they’re the worst.”

Nicole took a step forward, and Wynonna could see she was wearing a thick cotton shirt with cotton pants. “One mile every morning in full armor, do your Hands make you do that?”

Wynonna scoffed but didn’t answer.

“Then I think I win,” Nicole stated firmly, letting a lopsided grin appear.

“Whatever, Haught,” Wynonna mumbled. She crossed her arms, unable to think of a clever reply.

Nicole laughed, causing a warm feeling to radiate across Wynonna’s upper body again. “Would you like to join me, my lady?”

Nicole’s dark brown eyes looked at her with a confidence Wynonna had rarely seen except in her steward. No wonder Gus liked the Haughts so much.

“No,” Wynonna answered.

She thought she saw disappointment flicker across Nicole’s face, which made her mouth twitch into the tiniest of smiles. “…well, I guess I could watch.”

 

* * *

 

Nicole ran steadily on the dirt track with only the dull clinking of her armor breaking through the morning air. Wynonna looked on with Peacemaker next to her on the ground, and she could see the Haught staff prepare another area across the field for the upcoming tournament.

Nicole stopped in front of Wynonna and pulled off her helmet, somehow only slightly out of breath. The House Haught shield sigil was engraved on her chest plate with the scales of justice decorating the center. Wynonna briefly wondered which was more intimidating: having to make peace with death or knowing that justice had finally come for you?

“That was fast,” Wynonna commented bluntly. “What was it – five minutes?”

Nicole chuckled, pushing stray strands of hair off her forehead. “Something like that.”

Wynonna moved closer, inspecting Nicole’s face. “You’re not even sweaty. What are you – part machine?”

Nicole laughed again. As if on cue, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face and Nicole’s easy-going smile appeared again. “Completely human, I’m afraid.”

Before she realized what she was doing, Wynonna reached into her sleeve and pulled out her handkerchief. It was the Earp colors, red bordered with navy blue, and she absent-mindedly brushed it against Nicole’s cheek, wiping away the perspiration.

Nicole found herself holding her breath at the unexpected action, and Wynonna froze, suddenly becoming conscious of what she was doing. Her eyes widened and shifted nervously to Nicole’s, then looked down.

Nicole swallowed slowly then found her voice again. “Thank you, my lady.”

“Will you stop calling me that, Haught?” Wynonna said, regaining her composure and rolling her eyes. She sounded annoyed but a red tinge could be seen forming on her cheeks. She dropped her hand and crossed her arms stubbornly.

Nicole smiled to herself at how temperamental the Earp heir could act but how soft she really was at her core. Nicole hadn’t even known Wynonna for a full day, but she already knew that Wynonna’s knee-jerk sarcasm was merely a front to keep people at arm’s length.

And judging by the way Wynonna’s defenses lowered every time Nicole said just the right thing, it was exhausting for her to maintain.

“…Wynonna?”

“What?” Wynonna asked sharply, letting her gaze come back up.

Nicole pointed to the other side of her face, where tiny droplets of sweat had formed on her temple. “You missed a spot.”

Wynonna pursed her lips so a smile wouldn’t betray her, but she moved the handkerchief back up and dabbed at Nicole’s forehead. “You better keep this,” she muttered. “It’s super gross now.”

Nicole only smiled back.

 

* * *

 

From the guest chambers’ window overlooking the field, Waverly watched as her sister gently held her handkerchief to Nicole’s face. The feeling of her heart being squeezed returned to her chest, but she couldn’t turn away.

There had been so many times that Waverly had secretly wished she was the Earp heir instead of her sister – she had a better mind for political games and public persona, she actually researched house lineages and histories to fully understand current treaties and what amendments might be needed, and she…

Her swirling thoughts halted when she saw Nicole take the handkerchief from Wynonna and put it in her chest plate. The two shared a look before Nicole turned to leave.

Waverly took a slow breath, watching Wynonna stand alone while Nicole walked away. A sad smile formed on Waverly’s face.

Above all, Waverly wanted Wynonna to be happy. Wynonna deserved that after all the suffering she had gone through after the invasion fifteen years ago. While Waverly stayed at the Homestead and was raised by the McCreedys, Wynonna was passed on as ward to various houses throughout the years. It was supposed to be a learning experience, but all it ended up doing was make Wynonna feel like a burden to everyone and belonging with no one.

Honestly, it was a miracle that Wynonna felt loyalty and devotion to House Earp at all.

But it was different at Haught’s Keep, and Nicole brought out a side to Wynonna that Waverly had never seen. Nicole’s steadfastness and good nature balanced out Wynonna’s stubbornness and reluctance, and Waverly could finally see Wynonna settling into her role as head of House Earp.

A soft knock on the door made Waverly release the breath she was holding in her chest. She had to keep it together.

_Smile._

“Yes?” Waverly said, her voice projecting cheeriness through the door.

A young woman with swept back dark blond hair peeked her head in. “Lady Waverly? Good morning! I’m Chrissy Nedley, the sentinel’s daughter.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Lady Chrissy,” Waverly answered, offering a small wave.

Chrissy smiled back, then stumbled, suddenly remembering to bow her head slightly in greeting. “Lady Nicole said I was to check on you and see if you needed anything.”

Waverly’s eyes faltered at the mention of Nicole’s name, but she kept her smile steady. “She asked you to check on me?”

“Of course!” Chrissy said. “She’s busy getting ready for the tourney or she’d come herself, but she told me specifically to make sure that you’re happy.”

Waverly felt her polite smile soften as a bit of genuineness escaped. “Please let Lady Nicole know that I am quite happy.”

Chrissy nodded. “I will, my lady.” She went to the door to leave, but turned back. “She’s great, you know.”

“Hmm?”

“Lady Nicole,” she clarified. “She’s amazing. We grew up together, practically sisters, so I know all her weird secrets.”

Waverly raised an eyebrow at the mention of “weird secrets” but Chrissy let out a laugh.

“The good news is that the weirdest thing about her is that she got our blacksmith to make a suit of armor for her cat.”

“What?!” Waverly asked in disbelief. She couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of an armored cat.

“I’m not joking!” Chrissy insisted. “Just ask Nicole when she’s not busy winning the melee later.”

“Well, now I _have_ to ask,” Waverly grinned.

Chrissy’s smile was teasing, but she lowered her eyes. “Don’t tell her I told you, okay?”

Waverly nodded, sharing a conspiratorial look.

“Good,” Chrissy said. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that she’s perfect for your sister, so you don’t have to worry.”

Waverly felt her heart sink into her stomach, but she kept the smile on her face as Chrissy left.

 

* * *

 

“I hate that you always do this.”

Nedley was muttering under his breath as he secured Nicole’s armor around her body. Though typically a fairly understanding man, he was admittedly getting more ornery in his older age, and he found less and less sense in overly dramatic displays of showmanship in tournaments. Real battles were bloody, violent, and awful - why glorify it to ignorant crowds who would never see how horrifically a man could die?

He especially didn’t like that the Haughts were always involved in the competitions, and in blank armor no less. The Haught propensity for fairness spread even in their own tournaments, and they specifically wore armor without their house sigil so that other competitors wouldn’t go easy on them. As sentinel, Nedley swore to protect the Haught family and letting them participate in the melee always went against his instincts.

It didn’t help that they usually won. _That_ never helped his protests.

“It’ll be fine, Nedley,” Nicole tried to say reassuringly. “It’s just training swords like normal. They can’t even cut through armor.”

“They can hit you upside the head pretty good though,” he said back, tightening the last strap for her shoulder piece. “And what will your folks think when they come back and their only heir has brain damage?”

Nicole laughed. “Well, I can still marry into House Earp even with brain damage.”

Nedley frowned at Nicole’s light-hearted response, but he handed her the blunted training sword and shield before exiting the armory. Nicole shook her head at Nedley’s seriousness, grabbed her helmet, and followed behind him into the loud tournament crowd.

 

* * *

 

Waverly clung to Wynonna’s arm in their special raised seats, her face filled with excitement watching the fighters warming up for the melee. Waverly had only been five years old at the last tournament at the Earp Homestead, and she was eager to see some semblance of the heroic knights she had read about in so many books growing up.

“Jeez Wave,” Wynonna complained, prying Waverly’s fingers off her arm. “Calm down, you’re cutting off my circulation.”

“Ooo, I think that’s the Knight of Flowers!” Waverly exclaimed, ignoring Wynonna’s protests and pointing to a knight with an intricate decoration of roses and thorns engraved throughout his armor. “Oh, and the Onion Knight!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Wynonna said. “And that’s _our_ knight, Doc, right down there.”

Doc had the visor on his helmet pushed up, and he tipped his head as he walked up to them, his shoulders reaching the floor level of their raised seats. “It is an honor to fight for House Earp.”

Wynonna smiled as Doc winked up at her, and she could feel Waverly digging her fingers into her arm again.

Doc leaned down, displaying a dramatic bow. “Would my lady do me the exquisite honor of granting me her --”

“Lady Nicole!” Waverly blurted out.

Nicole approached the Earp sisters with an easy smile, her helmet also open to show her face.

Doc narrowed his eyes. “I thought you were supposed to protect Lady Wynonna while I was in the melee.”

Nicole let out a laugh and looked at Wynonna. “You don’t think I can win the melee _and_ protect you?”

Wynonna leaned back in her seat and shrugged. “Doc’s right, you might be a little busy.”

Nicole nodded and let her gaze drop down, her mind juggling how to play this coy game of hot and cold with Wynonna again. One day, she’d learn all of Wynonna’s moods and temperaments, and one day she would figure out exactly how to make her feel safe enough to be happy.

“Well, I should have a reminder of exactly who I’m winning the melee for and protecting at the same time,” Nicole said finally, looking back up and giving Wynonna warm smile. “Would Lady Earp honor me with her favor today?”

Wynonna bit the inside of her cheeks to prevent a smile from spreading across her own face. “I would, but someone was sweaty this morning and ruined it."

Nicole grinned and pulled out Wynonna’s handkerchief from her chest plate. “It’s far from ruined. Improved, some might say.”

Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Whatever, go win the stupid tourney, Haught.”

Nicole’s grin widened, and she pushed the visor on her helmet down. “As you wish, my lady.”

 

* * *

 

Though intricate and flashy, the Knight of Flowers was the first one to be eliminated from the melee. All Nicole had to do was bash him with her shield and kick him squarely in the chest to send him cowering to the ground. The other competitor with the special flaming sword was the next to go - a few swings of her sword, and she had knocked the intimidating blade out of his hand.

There were only about ten knights in the melee to keep it small and manageable, and Doc’s double sword skills kept the attention of three knights at a time to try to distract him. A veteran of tourneys, that tactic never worked on him.

A knight with armor Nicole didn’t quite recognize quickly approached her, his sword twirling smoothly through the air. She held up her shield to block, but jumped back in surprise when the blade pierced through the metal.

Blunted swords used in tournament were _not_ supposed to do that.

Nicole gritted her teeth and swung her sword at the unknown knight, determined to dispatch the cheater quickly. The Haughts valued fairness and good sportsmanship, and this knight disgraced the house by so blatantly disrespecting the rules.

The knight caught her attack with his sword easily, and they quickly found themselves circling around with the dull clang of their blades hitting each other. Every time Nicole tried to force him back, the knight would push forward harder, leaving them in a stalemate.

“Getting tired yet?” a low voice from inside the knight’s helm growled out.

“Who are you?” Nicole grunted out, blocking another hard swing from the knight’s sword.

“A message.”

Nicole saw the knight ready his stance for a strong lunge forward, and she moved her shield in front, just in time for his blade to pierce another hole through the thick metal. Seeing the opportunity, she quickly pulled her shield down, taking the knight’s sword with it, and swung her sword forward at the knight’s head.

The dulled blade connected solidly with his helm, and he fell down quickly.

Nicole threw her shield down and kicked away her opponent’s sword. She walked over and pulled his helmet off to see his face.

She almost stumbled back when she saw a pair of red glowing eyes staring at her.

“We’ll take it from here, Lady Haught,” a voice suddenly said behind her. She blinked and realized that Dolls, Doc, Wynonna, and even Waverly had gotten down to the arena floor. Dolls and Doc quickly moved forward to grab the knight’s arms and drag him into a nearby tent. Wynonna followed closely behind with Peacemaker on her back.

Was Peacemaker glowing?

“Hey!” Nicole started. “What’s going--”

“We got this, Haught!” Wynonna called over her shoulder as she disappeared behind the tent flap.

Waverly stopped in front of the tent, hesitating, and Nicole stepped up to her.

“Waverly,” Nicole said softly, trying to keep her frustration at bay. “What’s going on?”

Waverly darted her eyes at Nicole’s broken shield only a few feet away. She swallowed slowly and touched Nicole’s wrist. “Just stay out here and don’t let anyone come in, okay?”

Nicole’s wrist was covered by her chainmail glove, but her skin still tingled at the contact. She suddenly realized that Waverly had deep hazel eyes instead of blue like her sister.

“...okay,” Nicole breathed out.

Waverly smiled and nodded, then entered the tent.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, Wynonna,” Dolls said calmly. “This is just like the one from six months ago.”

“I know what I’m doing, Dolls,” Wynonna said curtly, pulling out Peacemaker from behind her back. A series of symbols glowed along the great sword’s blade. “I’m not an idiot.”

“House Del Rey has got a message for House Earp,” the knight said darkly as he kneeled in front of Wynonna, his eyes still glowing red.

“Oh yeah?” Wynonna asked. “What is it?”

“House Del Rey is coming,” he smirked.

Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Like we didn’t already know that. Make your peace.”

She swung Peacemaker easily, as though the great sword lost its heaviness and simply became an extension of her own body. The blade sailed through the air and sliced cleanly in between the knight’s eerie red eyes.

Supernatural flames leapt up from the ground and swallowed the knight, pulling him down to Hell.

“Well done,” Dolls said simply.

Wynonna grinned smugly. “Do you still think I need more training?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got it up a bit early since I'll be attending New York Comic Con this weekend. The next update will probably be two weeks from now, as I won't have as much time to write. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as it was a bit difficult for the action scene - is there another verb instead of "swing" for a sword?? 
> 
> Thanks as always for reading, and I'd love to hear what you think in the comments :)


	3. Chapter 3

Nicole rounded the corner along a narrow street and followed the billowing smokestack that towered over the temporary tents that had been set up for the tournament. Earlier when Dolls, Doc, Wynonna, and Waverly had emerged from the tent, she pushed past them only to find it empty with a slightly burnt patch on the ground.

The red-eyed knight was gone.

Growing up, she had heard legends about the Earps from her tutor. Ridiculous stories that only children could believe - tales about the Earp who walked among the First Men and slayed demons that snuck through the Veil and infiltrated the human world.

But they were just stories...right?

The heat from the forge blasted over Nicole’s skin, and she pushed her thoughts away for later. A heavily perspiring figure was delicately chipping away at red hot sword, and Nicole dropped her battered shield loudly on the ground.

The figure kept working on the sword edge. “Ruined another one of my pieces, Haught?”

“Relax, just a melee shield, Mattie,” Nicole said, offering a smile even though the blacksmith didn’t look up at her.

Mattie blew carefully on her work, inspecting it carefully for a few silent moments. Seeming satisfied, she grabbed it with a pair of tongs and dropped it into a pail of water. The sound of hissing filled the air briefly, and Mattie walked over to pick up the shield Nicole dropped.

“Eesh,” she muttered, noticing the gaping holes in the shield’s thick metal. “Did you want to impress the Earp sisters by having a melee with real swords? That’s a new low, even for you.”

“That’s not --” Nicole started.

“What was the line you used on that ambassador’s daughter when we were sixteen?” Mattie interrupted, her face curling into a mischievous smirk. “‘When I see something I like, I don’t wanna wait’?”

Nicole bit her bottom lip and nodded her head good-naturedly while Mattie laughed to herself. It was a funny memory, but if she let herself join in she knew her friend would go into more embarrassing memories from the past, and Nicole didn’t have time for that right now.

“Well,” Mattie said, regaining her composure and turning the shield over in her hands. “This shield is shot, but at least I can melt it down and make something else.”

“It was an intruder,” Nicole stated matter-of-factly, referring back to the tournament. “The melee was normal, but there was a knight that entered with a real sword.”

The blacksmith narrowed her eyes. “...but there’s never been an intruder in Haught’s Keep.”

“I know,” Nicole agreed. “Something weird is happening, and maybe it’s connected with all the fighting in the West lately. And maybe it has to do with the Earp --”

“Hey,” Mattie said, putting a light hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “The Earps wouldn’t do anything bad in the West. They’re _our_ house.”

Nicole smiled at Mattie’s loyalty, something she had seen throughout their time growing up together. “I know,” she said, softening her tone. “I meant that we should try to do more to help them. Protect them.”

“Said like a true Haught,” Mattie chuckled, leaning back and folding her arms across her chest. “Those Earp sisters are pretty cute by the way. Which one is the one you’re supposed to marry?”

“Wynonna, the taller one. She’s always got that giant sword on her back.”

“Now _that_ is a fine piece,” Mattie said.

Nicole grinned. “The girl or the sword?”

Mattie smirked again and winked. “If you get big sister, does that mean I can go for lil sis? I hear she loves to learn, and I can tell her all about blacksmithing. It's a very _hot_ topic.”

Nicole licked her lips hesitantly while Mattie laughed at her own pun. Nicole could feel her face becoming warmer at the mention of Waverly, and she hoped that Mattie would think it was from the heat radiating from the forge. “Uh, I think she’s already engaged, actually.”

“Oh? That’s too bad,” Mattie said dismissively, moving to put the battered shield to the side of her workshop. “No fun for you nobles, I guess.”

Nicole smiled tightly. She almost never lied, and when she did, it was for better reasons than this. “Sorry about the shield, Mattie.”

Mattie picked up her tongs again and pulled another sword from the forge. “The knight in the melee with the real sword - did you kick his ass?”

Nicole let out a laugh. “Yes.”

Mattie smiled and retrieved her hammer to begin her work again. “Then nothing to be sorry about.”

 

* * *

 

Waverly watched as Wynonna paced back and forth in the guest chambers. Dolls and Doc both leaned against the table in the center of the room, patiently waiting for Wynonna to speak.

If Waverly remembered her history correctly, Haught’s Keep had stood for a thousand years and in all that time, no one had ever broken through its walls.

Many had tried, of course. Roughly two hundred years ago there had been a famous siege that lasted over 8 years at the Keep, and no one quite knew how the Haughts survived for that long without outside contact. Their security was simply the best, and in the wars that had come and gone, many lords simply thought of Haught’s Keep as an impossibility better left alone.

Until now, when the Earps visited Haught’s Keep for the first time in history, and an intruder popped up the very next day.

“We need to get out there,” Wynonna said at last. “We need to go out there where the battles are and end those revenants once and for all.”

“Not happening,” Dolls replied, keeping his casual stance.

“What do you mean, ‘not happening’?” Wynonna blurted out. “People, good people, are dying for us because _I’m_ not there to get rid of them for good.”

“You’re not ready,” Dolls said simply. “You can take one out at a time, but you’re not ready for an entire army.”

“I am apt to agree with my partner here,” Doc nodded.

Wynonna sighed. “Daddy was training Willa to do this. Willa would’ve done it already.”

She slumped her shoulders in defeat and rubbed a hand against her forehead. Waverly stepped forward to squeeze her arm gently. “You don’t know that. You’re doing the best you can.”

“Yeah? Well, my best doesn’t seem to be very good.”

Waverly smiled, the kind that made her sister momentarily forget what a terrible heir she was. “It’s good enough for me.”

Wynonna looked at her sister, someone who she’d never gotten really close to until few months ago. Wynonna spent most of their childhood shuttling around the major houses in the West, and they had practically been strangers when she finally returned to the Homestead to become house head. But Waverly had always been able to send a raven to the right estate on Wynonna’s birthday, and the first thing she did when she finally saw Wynonna after so many years was envelop her in a giant hug like they had never been apart at all.

Waverly was genuine and trusting and loving - everything Wynonna couldn’t bring herself to be, and sometimes she wondered why Waverly couldn’t just be the heir and fix everything.

But then Waverly would look at her like she could actually do it, that she could be the one to finally end the Earp curse, and then Wynonna found herself believing it too.

“You have such low expectations,” Wynonna said, letting her face match Waverly’s smile. “That’s what I love about you, dude.”

Waverly beamed back at her. She had basically been an only child since she was five years old, though she had always known that she had an older sister out there… somewhere. In her imagination Wynonna would always be there to help her and guide her, never ruthlessly teasing and bullying her like the other children in the Earp court did or losing patience like the McCreadys.

The real Wynonna was nothing like she imagined, but the real Wynonna was infinitely better because she was _real_. And nothing was going to separate them again.

“Waverly,” Dolls said softly, easing himself into the suspended moment between the Earp sisters. “I found the Keep’s library. There could be some history that weren’t in our archives and could tell us more about the curse from a different perspective. Why don’t you do some research this afternoon?”

Wynonna wrinkled her brow in confusion. “Why would the Haughts have information on the Earp curse?”

“The Haught family has been around just as long as the Earps,” Waverly explained. “They were probably around when the curse first started.”

“...and that’s why you’re the smart one,” Wynonna said with a wink.

“And the pretty one,” Waverly completed with a smirk. “They’re not mutually exclusive.”

Wynonna let out a laugh and nodded in agreement. “Yep, can’t argue with that, Waves.”

“Let me walk you to the library,” Dolls suggested, opening the chamber doors for Waverly. Waverly nodded to Doc and Wynonna, then exited the chambers with Dolls.

After a few moments of silence down the hallway, Dolls characteristically cleared his throat, his telltale habit of starting a serious conversation.

“You need to be careful.”

“Why?” Waverly asked cautiously. “There was only one revenant, right? Do you think it’s not safe here?”

“No,” Dolls said slowly, choosing his words carefully and keeping his voice quiet and calm. “Your… interactions with Lady Haught.”

Waverly felt her mouth turn dry and her pulse quicken. “...what do you mean?”

Dolls looked up and down the hallway to make sure they were alone, then stopped walking to face her. “If you’d like me to ask Gus to renegotiate the marriage arrangement, I can do that, Waverly. She’d still be marrying an Earp, and that’s the most important part.”

Waverly’s breath stopped in her throat. Her mind spun as she thought about the possibility of marrying Nicole Haught. She thought about how _she_ could always sit next to Nicole at dinner, _she_ could lead court dances with Nicole, give Nicole _her_ favor at tournaments, and…

Waverly slowly released her breath.

**_No._ **

“She makes Wynonna happy,” Waverly finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. “She deserves to be happy.”

”You deserve to be happy too.” His voice was steady, certain.

Waverly made her lips form a smile to fend off Dolls’ blunt gaze. “She’s the hero, not me. All I do is read books, and anyone can do that.”

Dolls paused. He searched Waverly’s face, trying to see beyond her forced smile and thinking if he should intrude any further. He’d become a close confidant of Wynonna’s in past six months, but with Waverly he wasn’t sure he could overstep his bounds.

Ultimately, he was there to ensure the security of House Earp, and all he needed to do was make sure a Haught married one. He wasn’t responsible for personal happiness, and that was something better for a person to decide for themselves.

“Then let me show you to the library,” Dolls stated, closing the conversation.

Waverly nodded and followed slightly behind Dolls’ steps. Tears had begun to fill her eyes, and she wiped them quickly away before he could notice.

 

* * *

 

From the layer of dust found on most of the books in the Haught library, it was clear that reading wasn’t a priority for most members of the estate. But while most well-used libraries had books in disarray from people hurriedly shoving them back in the wrong place, the Haught library, though dusty, was organized perfectly.

Waverly started with the genealogy records, trying to find if there were any unusual marriages into the house, but it all seemed pretty standard. It was the normal surrounding houses mixing into the Haught lineage, though there was an odd elopement every few generations.

After her eyes turned bleary reading family trees, Waverly moved onto their history books. The Haughts weren’t an especially prominent major house, but it was well-known that they had started off as house guards for another house that dissolved long ago, inheriting the Keep and growing into the military power they were today.

After hours of pouring over the books, Waverly sighed. No new information could be found, and she’d have to report back to Dolls and Wynonna with nothing to help them.

That feeling was always the worst.

Waverly picked up her pile of books and began sliding them back into their proper shelves, carefully making sure they returned to the right location. When she moved to a row of bookshelves in the back of the library and put away her last book, she noticed a blaze of red hair in the corner.

“Nicole,” Waverly murmured.

Nicole looked up from her reading spot on the library floor and smiled. Even in the darkening late afternoon light, Waverly could see the flecks of gold in Nicole’s brown eyes, and she forced down the lump that formed in her throat.

“Hey,” Nicole said softly, breaking the silence. “I saw you reading earlier, but I didn’t want to disturb you, so I hid over here.”

Waverly bit her bottom lip to keep a ridiculous smile from taking over her face, and Nicole lifted an eyebrow. They were so different, but both Earps seemed to do the same thing to prevent their faces from betraying them.

“What are you reading?” Waverly asked, letting herself take a step closer.

_Not too close._

Nicole rose from her sitting position and showed Waverly the book’s cover. “The Legend of Aveline. She was the first Haught.”

“Aveline…?” Waverly repeated, rolling the name around in her mind. “I’ve never heard of her. Is she in the genealogy records?”

Nicole let out a laugh at Waverly’s serious question. “She’s just a legend. I doubt she was actually a real person. But they say she was the first Haught, a great warrior, and had red hair like me.”

Nicole grinned and ran a hand quickly through her hair for emphasis. She had cleaned herself up after the tournament and left her hair down instead of putting it in her signature French braid. Waverly’s eyes followed Nicole’s hand, and she resisted the sudden urge to run her own fingers through Nicole’s hair.

“Kissed by fire,” Waverly uttered out.

“Hm?”

A nervous laugh escaped from Waverly’s lips, and she felt her face becoming warm again. “Th-That’s what the wildlings say about people with red hair,” she stuttered out. “That they’re kissed by fire. They’re lucky.”

Nicole laughed again, and instead of embarrassing Waverly further, the gentle sound settled over her and soothed her nerves. “Well, Aveline was pretty lucky. The legend says she fought alongside the first Earp.”

Waverly blinked. Her mind refocusing from the haze being around Nicole tended to cause. “...what?”

“Yeah, she killed some demons with him, though they didn't call them that. They called them rev--”

“Revenants,” Waverly finished for her.

“Yeah,” Nicole confirmed hesitantly. Waverly’s face had changed into a more determined look, as though she had stumbled onto something important. “Do you want to read it?”

Waverly nodded and took the book as Nicole handed it to her. Waverly turned the book in her hands carefully. “Are there more books that talk about Aveline?”

“She’s the most popular character in Haught history,” Nicole said. “This whole shelf has books about her life and adventures.”

Nicole lifted her arm and pointed to the top shelf of the bookcase, which towered above Waverly’s head. Used to being small, Waverly immediately reached up on her tiptoes and began grabbing books off the shelf.

A smile twitched involuntarily on Nicole’s face as she watched the stack of books in Waverly’s arms grow taller. There was something about the concentrated look on Waverly’s face that was completely captivating, and she didn’t even realize Waverly had spoken again until their eyes suddenly met and a jolt coursed through her body.

“Um, Nicole?” Waverly asked, her voice in a high pitched tone as she precariously balanced a heavy load of books in one arm and stretched the other up on the shelf again. Her fingertips barely brushed the spine of last book shoved to the back. “I can’t reach, so…”

“Oh!” Nicole blurted out, making her mind restart again. “Let me help you.”

She easily retrieved the book and placed it gently on top of the pile in Waverly’s arms. Nicole felt her smile turn more confident as she moved closer. “I got you.”

Waverly licked her lips nervously as Nicole’s low voice caused her heart to pound in her chest. She realized her breathing had slowed as the space between them disappeared, and her mind filled with a blurring fog that made it hard for Waverly to judge how long they stood there and if there was anything or anyone in the room except for herself and Nicole.

...But then her mind cleared, and Waverly could see how Nicole’s eyes looked at her, eyes filled with a kind of dangerous longing, and the way Nicole swallowed slowly when her gaze moved down to Waverly’s mouth, and how easily Waverly could stand on her tiptoes again and close the tiny gap left between them.

_You need to be careful._

The memory of Wynonna’s face as Nicole fought the revenant that morning flashed in Waverly’s mind. Her expression of pure worry and concern was something Waverly never seen, and Wynonna had roughly grabbed Dolls to leap down to the arena floor immediately. Wynonna had barely gotten herself together when Nicole successfully fought off the knight herself, and Waverly remembered seeing the impressed smile that grew across her face.

“That’s my girl,” Wynonna whispered under her breath.

And that was it: Nicole was Wynonna’s girl.

Waverly couldn’t put herself between Wynonna and any happiness she could find as someone with the impossible responsibility of lifting an ageless curse. Waverly couldn’t take away happiness from her sister, the _only_ sister and family she had left.

She couldn’t.

She had to stop this before it continued any further.

Waverly cleared her throat loudly, startling Nicole. She took a few deliberate steps back.

“Thank you for your help, Lady Nicole,” Waverly said, the tone of her voice suddenly cold and distant. “I can take it from here.”

Nicole coughed awkwardly at Waverly’s abrupt shift, but she tried offering a relaxed smile to lighten the mood. “Of course. Do you need help carrying--”

“No,” Waverly interrupted. “I’m fine.”

Nicole’s mouth tightened at Waverly’s short response, but she laughed nervously in another attempt to smooth things over. “Well, how about help reading--”

Waverly’s eyes fluttered briefly, and she internally cursed herself for the next words that came out of her mouth.

But she had to do it.

“Judging from the amount of dust here, researching is obviously not a Haught strength. Honestly, you’ll just slow me down.”

It sounded like a stranger’s voice to Waverly, the harshness completely foreign to her, but the words struck sharply into Nicole’s gut and her face immediately dropped. It was disappointing to be physically taken down in a fight, but it was completely devastating to be underestimated by someone who had an unexplainable effect on you.

“A-as you wish, my lady,” Nicole heard herself stutter out.

Waverly nodded curtly, then turned quickly around to exit the library. When she finally reached the guest chambers, Waverly checked the rooms to make sure she was alone. Once she was certain, she released the sob that had been forced deep in her chest.

The heavy books in her arms fell loudly to the ground, and Waverly let herself sink down with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience on this chapter. NYCC was so fun, y'all.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think in the comments. Bonus points if you know where I got the name Aveline :)


	4. Chapter 4

Wynonna looked at the stack of papers in front of her and sighed. She rested her elbows on the desk and brought her hands under her chin, her forehead wrinkled in contemplation.

A week had already passed at Haught’s Keep, and their scheduled visit was coming to a close. Thankfully the tournament events finished without further incident, though Waverly continued to insist on spending her time researching with no help, even going so far as requesting all her meals be delivered to her room. She refused to say any precise details, but there was something about the first Earp and Haught that seemed promising, and she said she'd share it fully with the team as soon as she found something concrete.

Waverly was busy doing what Waverly did best, and Wynonna felt lost constantly pushing off the main purpose of their visit.

A marriage proposal.

Wynonna flipped through the pages of the marriage agreement and scanned the words absent-mindedly. To be honest, she didn’t quite understand the exact terms of the agreement, but she knew the highlights: the Earps and Haughts would consolidate their finances and armies and House Earp and House Haught would continue to stand independently, though each house would have a major representative in each other’s advisory councils.

And they’d tell Nicole about the Earp curse and what she’d really gotten herself into, but only after the marriage contract was signed.

Dolls insisted on _that_ part.

After spending the week getting to know her, Wynonna was confident Nicole wouldn’t flinch at the mention of revenants. She had, after all, more than handled herself when faced with fighting one at the first day of the tournament a few days ago.

But there was one part of whole marriage idea that made Wynonna shift uncomfortably when Dolls or Doc reminded her what needed to be done. Something that made Wynonna swallow back her words when she tried to bring it up with Nicole.

Weren’t you supposed to, like, love who you were marrying?

“Love is a luxury,” Dolls stated earlier. “Most Houses marry for necessity. If the people fall in love afterwards, that’s a bonus.”

“Gee, who'd've thought you were such a romantic, Dolls,” Wynonna replied sarcastically.

Dolls shook his head and sighed, moving closer. “My job is to protect House Earp,” he said quietly. “But I’m also here to protect _you_.”

Doll’s face had changed then, as it sometimes did, from the usual stoic coldness to something that projected warmth and allowed a smile to form on his face. Sometimes Wynonna forgot he was capable of doing that, and it always took her by surprise.

He reached over the small space between them and gently put his hand on Wynonna’s cheek. “She’ll make you happy,” he said confidently.

These moments with Dolls were didn’t happen often, and it was easy to get lost in them. It was hard to describe the way they made her feel -- prioritized, secure. Feelings that she rarely felt when constantly barraged by old memories and new responsibilities.

“And if she doesn’t?” Wynonna asked softly.

“Well,” he replied slowly, running his fingers delicately around the strands of hair by her face. “Then I’ll kill her.”

Dolls flashed a smile and pulled his hand away. His chest was shaking slightly, but Wynonna doubted he could actually laugh. She rolled her eyes.

“You’re terrible at jokes, you know that, right?” Wynonna said, crossing her arms.

“Just ask her, Wynonna. Fill out the papers and then we can go back home.”

Wynonna rubbed her fingers over the Earp seal she held in one of her hands. It was simple, really. All she needed to do was sign her name, dip the seal in wax, press it against the papers, and it was done. Her whole life contracted away in seconds.

And she’d be tied for the rest of her life to someone she barely knew. Someone that…

A quiet knock at the door interrupted Wynonna’s thoughts.

Wynonna smoothed down her hair quickly and stood up from the behind the desk she had been working on. “Yes?” she called out.

The door creaked open, and a face with soft brown eyes and a kind smile peeked around it. “You asked to see me, Wynonna?” Nicole asked.

“Yes, come in. Please.”

Nicole stepped in front of the door and closed it behind her. She was clearly in her sleeping clothes, though she also had on a long coat to cover most of it. _Shit,_ Wynonna had forgotten it was so late. With her insomnia, she was never good at keeping track of the the time.

“Uh, sorry it’s so late, Haught, I’m just --” Wynonna started.

“Head of the biggest House in the Western territories, dealing with invaders and fifteen years of insomnia,” Nicole finished for her. Her smile widened. “I remember.”

With anyone else, that statement would have come across as smug or self-satisfying, but in front of Wynonna, Nicole looked so sincere, like remembering everything Wynonna ever said to her was the most natural thing in the world, and Wynonna felt it again, that warm feeling that spread across her chest and made her feel at ease, comfortable; like being wrapped in a blanket indoors while it stormed and thundered outside.

Wynonna let a smile trickle its way across her face.

Dolls was right; all she needed to do was sign her name, stamp the papers, and she’d be tied for the rest of her life to someone that could make her happy.

 

* * *

 

Waverly never liked sharing incomplete or unverified information. Doc, Dolls, and Wynonna often pushed her for the latest in her research to track down a revenant skulking around the West, and they’d often be out the door with their swords drawn before she could tell them about the revenant’s history or weaknesses.

One time Doc returned with his chest nearly sliced open with by a revenant with a barber surgeon past. Another time Dolls was almost lost to a pair of revenant succubi, and even Wynonna had Peacemaker pulled away by a revenant with telekinetic powers.

Not anymore. Waverly would hold her research close against her chest until she could get to the bottom of what she could find. She could help keep everyone _safe_.

Especially now that Nicole was involved.

And she had to keep researching, keep her mind busy, because it was dangerous to let her mind wander these days. It'd dance its way back to the memory of seeing Nicole's awestruck face the first time they met, the magnetic way their eyes were attracted to each other. Back to the moment in the library when there had barely been any space between them, when they were close enough to feel their own breaths, and Waverly could have just inched closer, could have just leaned in, and...

She did her best to avoid Nicole now, spending all her time in the guest chambers. Every once in a while she’d take a brisk walk around the hallways of the Keep for some fresh air, and she’d give a polite nod of acknowledgement if she saw Nicole.

Waverly pretended not to notice the disappointment that flickered on Nicole’s face when she forced a smile. She pretended that her heart wasn’t thundering loudly in her ears every time she saw Nicole approaching from a distance. She pretended that she didn’t desperately want to turn around and look at Nicole for just a few more moments before she disappeared from sight.

Pretending was easier than feeling because feeling had so many more consequences.

Nicole had been right though, there were _a lot_ of books about Aveline Haught, and Waverly read all the ones in the Haught library multiple times. They were all variations of the same story: a powerful warrior who rose up to fight for justice and fairness in lawless lands. A time before Houses, before family legacies, before established society, when demons still openly fought men to rule the living plane.

At some point in the story, Aveline encountered an enemy with glowing red eyes and met the first Earp. They defeat the revenant and decide it’s easier to protect humans together. They even team up for an adventure against a powerful witch who had been working alongside the revenants.

And then...then the story dissolves with the heroes walking off into the sunset.

It could’ve just been family legend created to make the Haughts seem more important and inspire their troops, but with the Haught family values of justice and fairness, it seemed highly unlikely.

But why hadn’t she ever heard of Aveline before? Why weren’t any of these stories in the Earp library? If their history went this far back, why didn’t the Earps and Haughts have a closer relationship than lord and sworn bannerman after all these years?

There was something missing, and Waverly was determined to find it. She could keep on pretending and stay isolated in her room for the rest of her life if it meant that it’d keep Nicole -- _them all_ \-- a little bit safer.

 

* * *

 

Wynonna flipped the papers over on her desk quickly, suddenly losing focus while Nicole waited expectantly by the door. When a flutter of papers flew off the desk in her hurry, Nicole stepped forward to help pick them up.

“S-sorry,” Wynonna heard herself stuttering. “It’s just late, and --”

“You look a little tired, my lady,” Nicole said bluntly.

“What?!" Wynonna immediately lost her stutter. "And what did I tell you about the ‘my lady’ crap, _Nicole_?!”

Nicole pressed her lips together tightly and looked away, but Wynonna could see the grin threatening to come out on her face.

A joke. Right.

Wynonna let out a laugh, and when Nicole’s grin emerged, she felt the nervousness melt away from her. “Good one, Haught.”

“You do look tired though,” Nicole said again after a moment, softer this time. She looked at Wynonna, and Wynonna could see the genuine concern behind her eyes. “Maybe we should talk in the morning?”

Wynonna took a slow breath and rubbed her eyes lightly. She could feel the puffiness on her face, and she could only imagine how she looked right now. It was amazing how anyone took her seriously.

“As you might know by now, this --” she started, pointing at her face. “--does not get any better in the morning.”

The memories of Wynonna’s face the past few mornings for her early runs, hair rumpled from sleep and eyes blinking back early sunlight, crossed Nicole’s mind briefly. “Oh, I beg to differ.”

Nicole's low voice surprised her, and a unexpected shiver went down Wynonna's back. She laughed nervously. “Well,” Wynonna huffed out, trying to maintain her composure. “I wouldn’t want to keep _you_ from your beauty sleep. Er -- not that you _need_ more beauty sleep, but, like --”

“Is it because of the invasion on the Earp Homestead fifteen years ago?” Nicole asked abruptly. “The reason why you have insomnia?”

Oh. She wanted to talk about _that._

Wynonna swallowed slowly, straightening up her posture and turning around so she didn’t have to face Nicole and her damn sincere eyes. If she was going to share the story without becoming a mess, she’d have to do it without looking at her. It’d be all too easy to feel safe around Nicole, safe enough to fall apart, but she _wasn’t_ safe, not yet…

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Nicole said gently. “I just thought that talking about it might help. It doesn’t really seem like you...talk much.”

“You’re right,” Wynonna agreed, turning her face slightly over her shoulder. “I don’t like talking much.”

“Okay,” Nicole said simply. “Then I --”

“They came in the middle of the night,” Wynonna interrupted. “Bobo Del Rey and a few of his bannermen. They took my big sister, Willa. They came right into our room while we were sleeping and _took_ her. I followed them and tried to get one of those stupid decorative swords off the wall, but I couldn’t even pick it up…”

Wynonna paused to take a breath, and Nicole moved closer to her. She reached out and squeezed her wrist softly, though Wynonna was still avoiding her gaze.

“They killed my dad that night. Strung up his dead body right on our battlements for everyone to see. A couple days later they sent us Willa’s bloody dress...”

Wynonna’s voice cracked at the end of her sentence, and she covered her mouth to hold back a sob. Nicole nodded and ran her hands along Wynonna’s arms soothingly. “I’m _so_ sorry that happened, Wynonna,” she whispered.

Wynonna took a deep breath and sighed, staying turned away. “I couldn’t protect my sister.”

“It was impossible,” Nicole said, hoping she sounded reassuring. She didn’t really want to dredge up painful memories, but keeping something shoved down for fifteen years probably wasn’t doing Wynonna any good, and she could be a good listener, even if it was painful. Nicole could do it for Wynonna, at least.

“Am I,” Wynonna asked, finally shifting to face Nicole. “Am I still a little sister if my big sister is gone?”

Her eyes had turned red and watery and her voice was thick with emotion, as if she wondered this question every day but was too afraid to ask. 

Nicole put her hand delicately on Wynonna’s cheek and tried to muster a small smile. “Yes, because your big sister is always with you. No one can really take her away from you. Not completely.”

Wynonna closed her eyes and nodded, hearing the answer to a question she could never bear say out loud. She reached up a hand to hold Nicole’s wrist. “Thanks.”

“Any time, my lady.”

Wynonna huffed and pushed Nicole’s hand away, rolling her eyes again. “Back to that? Now you should really go to sleep.”

Nicole laughed, glad to see Wynonna was quick to recover herself. “What about you?”

“Me? Oh, I’ll do my usual toss and turn thing for a few hours, then I’ll meet you for your weird full armor run bright and early.”

Nicole smiled. “How about I stay with you then?”

Wynonna lifted an eyebrow. “...what?”

“Strictly for protection,” Nicole clarified. “I’ll stand guard while you sleep, keep you safe. Maybe you’ll do less of a toss and turn thing and more of a catching up on sleep thing.”

Wynonna narrowed her eyes.

“There’s nowhere safer than next to a Haught?” Nicole offered, returning Wynonna's own words back to her. She gave an easy-going smile, showing off the dimples in her cheeks. “Don’t worry, you can keep your big ass sword next to you. I won’t be offended.”

Wynonna let her own small smile form on her face. Nicole always tried so hard for her. She wasn’t sure if she was worth all that trouble, and maybe it was all a carefully orchestrated act to be part of House Earp and resolve the Haught debt, but she’d accept it if it meant Nicole fumbling and trying and looking at her the way she did now. “What are you gonna do, protect me with your bare hands?”

Nicole flashed a knowing look and walked to Wynonna’s bed. She knelt down and reached underneath, pulling out a hidden shield and sword.

“Haughts are always prepared to help a damsel in distress, huh?” Wynonna asked, folding her arms skeptically but she couldn’t dismiss the smile that was already plastered across her face.

Nicole winked. “Ready to protect and serve.”

Wynonna lifted her eyebrow again. “I’ll bet.”

Nicole moved back to the desk beside Wynonna’s bed, placing the chair closer to the side of the bed and sitting down. She held the shield ready in her left hand and sword in her right, her posture straight at attention and facing the bedroom door.

Wynonna slid hesitantly into her bed, putting Peacemaker next to her and clutching the hilt. “You’ll really stay up all night?”

“Of course.”

"You're not tired?"

Nicole looked over at Wynonna, who was still sitting upright. She offered another reassuring smile that made Wynonna feel soft and warm again. “You have fifteen years of sleep to catch up on. I can stay up for one night.”

Wynonna felt the corners of her mouth curl up again, and she let herself lie down and close her eyes.

This wasn't the first time someone tried to help her sleep. Doc and Dolls had done it before, each promising to guard her personally. The night that Doc watched her, he ended up snoring on the bed next to her within a couple hours, leaving her with an even more restless night than usual. With Dolls, Wynonna woke up after a nightmare to find herself alone in her room. Worried, she found Dolls in the adjoining study going over paperwork, and he briskly explained that he could keep watch from the study _and_ be productive.

She never tried it again with either of them.

But Nicole was true to her word. When Wynonna startled herself awake start from a bad dream, Nicole was there to gently rub her arm until she fell back asleep. A few other fitful awakenings later in the night found her sitting dutifully in her chair, watching intently at the bedroom door for any disturbances.

With someone truly watching over her for the first time in fifteen years, Wynonna let herself fall asleep.

 

* * *

 

Training under Nedley, Nicole had done night shifts before, mostly guarding various parts of the Keep, though she had spent a night on guard duty in camp while they were traveling to a nearby house. The night shifts were always a battle to stay awake and focused as the time slowly ticked by.

But somehow those difficulties didn’t apply when she guarded Wynonna. Nicole kept an eye and ear on the door, but she spent most of the time stealing glances to watch Wynonna sleep. She watched silently as the nightmares flashed across Wynonna's tense face and the inward battle of how she fought them off. Whenever the struggle seemed too difficult, she reached over the bed to stroke Wynonna’s arm and wake her gently, then guided her back to asleep.

After a few hours, Wynonna’s sleeping breaths were deep and slow, and Nicole’s own breaths instinctively matched her pace, feeling the trust and comfort they had built up with each other in just over a week.

In the quiet of the night, Nicole let her thoughts wander back to the afternoon in the library with Waverly. She still couldn’t explain to herself why she acted that way toward Waverly -- Wynonna’s _sister_. Nicole could admit to that she had been inexplicably attracted to her when they first met, but Nicole was promised to Wynonna, and since Nicole hadn’t seen more than a few seconds of Waverly since the library, it was clear that the younger Earp didn’t welcome their interactions anyway.

All she managed to do was drive an awkward wedge between herself and who would presumably become her sister-in-law.

But it wasn't as though Wynonna was some sort of consolation prize; on the contrary, she was one of the most achingly beautiful and stubbornly complicated women Nicole had ever met. The slightest wrong move could make her shut down and raise her defenses, but the slightest attempt could make her look at you like anything was possible. It was as though no one ever even _tried_ for Wynonna, and Nicole was more than willing to try for her. 

She was even willing to try for the rest of their lives, but Wynonna had to ask first.

Looking at Wynonna’s peaceful face while she slept, Nicole hoped it would be soon.

 

* * *

 

The morning sun filtered in through the curtains, and Wynonna felt herself roll over in bed and slowly wake up. She let her body revel in the space between sleep and awake for a few moments, having forgotten what it was like. Opening her eyes slowly, she saw Nicole still unmoved in the chair beside her, concentrating her gaze on the door and ready to act if any threats came barreling through.

Wynonna could see the beginnings of dark bags forming under Nicole’s eyes and how her lips had become chapped during the night, but Nicole had stayed awake and looked as though she could go on even further if she had to -- if Wynonna asked.

Wynonna slowly sat up in bed, and the sound made Nicole turn her head. Her easy smile greeted Wynonna’s half-awake face, and the thought flickered through Wynonna's mind how nice it would be to see that smile every morning.

“Marry me.”

The abrupt words tumbled out of Wynonna's mouth almost without a thought, though her mind was filled with images of Nicole being with her every day: waking up together, talking together, training together, fighting revenants together. It was so easy to imagine that future and too disappointing if she let Nicole slip away.

Nicole let out a breath of disbelief at Wynonna’s unexpected proposal, but her smile widened. “I --”

“WYNONNA!”

A panicked voice broke through their moment, and suddenly the bedroom door burst open. Nicole immediately stood with her shield up and sword drawn, but she relaxed and lowered her blade when she saw who had come in.

 _Waverly_.

Waverly’s breath caught in her throat when she saw Nicole in Wynonna’s bedroom. She vaguely wondered if she had been there all night but quickly shook the thought away.

“Waverly? What’s going on?” Wynonna asked carefully. Judging by the light coming into the room, it was still morning, and Waverly _definitely_ knew that Wynonna wasn’t a morning person who had people come into her room before breakfast.

“A messenger came this morning,” Waverly said softly. “They’re looking for you…”

Waverly’s eyes looked timidly at Nicole and her hands were wringing themselves in front of her.

“For me?” Nicole asked. “This early? Why?”

Suits of armor could be heard clinking in the atrium of the guest chambers, and Nedley hurriedly appeared with men behind him. “Lady Haught! There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere this morning.”

His face was flushed, which was unusual for a man who had seen nearly everything in his time of service. Nicole stepped forward. “Nedley, what’s going on?”

Nedley cleared his throat, choosing his words purposefully. “The siege at the edge of the Western territories was broken in the night, and though they fought bravely, many men were lost…”

Nicole’s body froze as she recognized the rehearsed words. Words she learned and practiced herself. Words that were said to families who lost loved ones in battle. 

The room turned silent and it seemed like the world had stopped. 

It wasn't real, it _couldn't_ be real...

Nedley had trailed off, he couldn't finish the words. He stood in front of her with his flushed face, unable to finish the words. 

_Fuck_. 

Nicole took a shaky breath. She hated that she had to be the stronger one and make him finish the words and make it real. “...and my parents?”

He slowly reached back to some of the men behind him and brought forward two bloody chest plates. Chest plates engraved with the Haught shield and scales of justice.

_...A couple days later they sent us Willa’s bloody dress…_

Something wet fell on Nicole’s right hand, and she realized she was crying. 

Were you still a daughter if your parents were gone?

Then suddenly Nedley found his words again.

“We are ready to serve Lady Nicole, head of House Haught.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took so long for this update, but I hope you enjoyed it! It's hard to write ~feelings~ chapters.
> 
> Thanks as always for reading, and let me know what you think in the comments :)


	5. Chapter 5

Waverly rifled through her old notes on the Earp curse, trying to find something, _anything_ that could cause a breakthrough for her work and help kill revenants. Well, kill them again and send them to Hell again, but keep them there for good - forever.

But _goddammit_ if her years’ of notes weren’t helping anything right now.

That morning passed by so devastatingly quickly. She barely had time to process what had happened. She had run into Nedley and his men looking for Nicole, and catching the quiet gossip that followed them, Waverly quickly picked up the terrible news about the siege.

She immediately ran to tell Wynonna, and then… then everything fell apart.

Waverly could see the pain grow on Nicole’s face as Nedley spoke; it started slowly as confusion evolved into her worst fears, then everything barreled over as her worst fears were confirmed to be reality.

Nedley ushered Nicole away quickly, taking her back to their council chambers so she could formally be instated as house head. Wynonna stayed unmoving and silent in her bed while Waverly watched.

“It was revenants,” she finally said.

“I know,” Waverly whispered.

“How the hell did revenants take out an entire Haught army led by the _Haughts_?!”

Wynonna’s voice grew louder, more exasperated, and Waverly could tell that guilt was eating away at her again, just like it was eating away at Waverly.

Waverly took a breath. “It’s been six months, they’ve had time to organize…”

“They’ve had time because we’ve been so _FUCKING_ SLOW AND STUPID!”

Wynonna had screamed out the end of her sentence, flinging Peacemaker off the bed and letting the sword clang loudly on the stone floor.

Waverly could only stay silent at Wynonna’s outburst. She was right.

“We let her parents die, Waves,” Wynonna murmured. She stared ahead into nothing with watery eyes.

“I-I know,” Waverly choked out. Tears started falling from her eyes, but there was nothing she could do to stop them - it was true, after all. They had failed; they were too slow, too stupid, too weak…

Wynonna sniffed loudly, clearing her stuffy nose, and Waverly could see the wheels turning in her head again.

Sometimes Wynonna’s habit of shutting off her emotions could be useful.

“Can you go over your research again, baby girl?” Wynonna asked. She said the question softly, trying to ease Waverly back from her own emotions. Wynonna was using her guilt to propel forward and recover herself, already getting out of bed and picking up Peacemaker from the floor.

Waverly could only nod in reply, the lump in her throat too big for her to make any sound, but her legs still worked, and she rushed back to her room. She pulled out her huge chest of notes, looking for something, _anything_ that would make a difference.

Wet drops pattered on the parchment, and Waverly’s vision soon became too blurry to read the words.

What good was any of her work when people still died and the people she cared about still got hurt?

 

* * *

 

As soon as Waverly left, Wynonna sank down to the floor and let her face fall into her hands. She was glad Waverly ran out of the room, as her body started shaking uncontrollably, and she couldn’t have held it together for much longer.

Her little sister still looked up to her, and Wynonna tried to play her part of a confident big sister that could roll with the gut-wrenching punches, but this was a completely new challenge altogether.

An entire army taken out. What was that? Thousands of lives?

And the parents of Nicole. What would Nicole think of her after the Earp curse was revealed to be the cause of her parents’ deaths?

Wynonna was certain Nicole would never smile at her ever again, not a real one at least. She’d never get that warm smile that grew across Nicole’s face like a breath of fresh air, with dimples that made your heart flutter.

But people had died, and Wynonna was mourning about a girl’s smile?

Her mind raced, chiding her for forgetting the real lives lost and then playing again the memory of Nicole’s smile that morning. Tears were leaking out between her fingers as held her face in her hands, and her breaths turned quick and shallow, causing a nauseating dizziness even though she sat solidly on the ground.

She had never felt so small, so useless.

And then, as if to torture her more, the memory of Willa danced across her mind. Clever Willa, ruthless Willa, beautiful Willa. Quick with her saber in preparation for Peacemaker, she always won whenever they dueled for fun in the Earp Homestead hallways, and the staff always looked the other way when she stole sweets from the kitchens. She and Wynonna would spend hours climbing the rafters in forgotten sections of the Homestead, throwing candy at each other’s mouths and talking about nothing and everything.

Inevitably, as all thoughts concerning Willa did, her mind became flooded with the memory of the Homestead invasion. Wynonna had been startled awake by Willa’s shrieks, and her body moved automatically to grab her sister away from the man with red-eyes, but she was roughly kicked back. She saw the decorative swords on the hallway wall and her hands gripped one handle, trying to rip it out, but her hands were too small to even hold the sword properly…

A slight orange glow from Peacemaker made Wynonna look up. Even in its sheath, the old runes could be seen lighting up along the great sword’s blade.

Wynonna swallowed slowly.

She wasn’t just a little girl any more.

 

* * *

 

Waverly felt wringed out, her eyes swollen from crying and the tear trails dried on her cheeks. Her research was still stacked in front of her, a few pages shuffled in her fingertips, but she had sat and stared into nothing for who knows how long.

A sharp rap at the door brought her focus back to the present, and Waverly hurriedly rubbed her eyes to hopefully make herself more presentable. It must be lunch time, though judging by the sunlight, it looked to be well past noon.

Chrissy entered quietly, bringing the usual meal tray as she had been doing for the past week when Waverly asked for her meals to be sent to her room. Though usually bright and cheerful, Chrissy was understandably at a loss for words this particular afternoon.

“Good afternoon, Lady Waverly,” she said, mustering a small smile. “I’m sorry that your lunch is late. The entire staff is…”

Waverly nodded. “I understand. How are you, Lady Chrissy?”

She reached over over to gently squeeze Chrissy’s forearm, and Chrissy smiled again at Waverly’s kindness, though tears began brimming her eyes. “I’ll be fine, my lady,” she said dismissively, reaching up a hand to quickly wipe away the tears that escaped. “Honestly, it’s Nicole I’m worried about.”

Waverly’s mind went back to Nicole, thinking how devastated and alone she must feel. Waverly was used to being an orphan, even used to feeling like an only child, but to lose your parents when you had a lifetime of memories…

“But she’s strong,” Chrissy continued in a determined tone. “She’s the strongest person I’ve ever met, and I know she’ll be a great leader for House Haught.”

Waverly smiled and nodded again, giving Chrissy’s arm another warm squeeze. “I’m sure she will be.”

Noticing the now familiar stack of notes, Chrissy placed Waverly's meal carefully on her desk, avoiding any scattered papers. “You know, you should ask Nicole for help if you’re researching something,” she suggested. “She’s really good at this kind of stuff.”

Waverly frowned, remembering how she had forcefully dismissed Nicole’s help in the library. “I’m not sure she’ll want to help. Besides, I’m sure she’s really busy now --”

“Are you kidding? She loves reading and learning, and she was totally our tutor’s favorite,” Chrissy insisted. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s completely a Haught and wants to protect people, but if she wasn’t the heir, she’d probably be sent to the Citadel to become a maester.”

Waverly’s eyes scanned over her well-worn research. She needed a breakthrough, _hell_ , they all needed a breakthrough, and if it could prevent more lives from being lost…

“Okay,” Waverly relented, watching Chrissy’s eyes light up. “I’ll ask her for help.”

 

* * *

 

Nicole ran her fingers lightly over the Haught family shield. Her father had carried it with him into battle, and the surviving men had somehow brought it back to Haught’s Keep. It was the Haught heirloom, and some even claimed it traced all the way back to Aveline herself. The shield was virtually indestructible; it had survived centuries of fighting with hardly any signs of wear at all.

Every Haught leader carried it with pride, and even Nicole dreamed about when it would be passed down to her, and she could officially call it her own.

But now that it was actually hers, she’d rather have her parents back.

Nedley had given it to her without much fanfare, and his regiment of men had kneeled down, acknowledging her as the new house head. Nicole had taken it all in numbly, registering what was happening but fervently wishing it was all a terrible nightmare that she just couldn’t wake up from.

But the day continued on with Nedley providing troop updates, asking about starting a draft to bolster soldier numbers, and saying how they were running low on funds and supplies, and Nicole slowly wrapped her head around her new reality.

In the early afternoon, she asked him for a break, a short time to clear her mind, and Nedley nodded in concession and left her alone in the council chambers.

For five minutes, she let herself cry.

It simultaneously felt like not enough time and too much time. It certainly wasn’t enough time to mourn the loss of her mother and father who had raised her so kindly and well, but it was too much time to dwell on things she couldn’t change, especially with so many issues facing the Keep. The majority of their army was decimated, they were still drowning in debt, and the marriage alliance…

 _Shit_ , she’d completely forgotten that Wynonna had asked her to marry her this morning. That moment felt like a lifetime ago.

Nicole wiped her face with her sleeves, shoving away her emotions to deal with at a later time. She’d better formalize the engagement now, before the Earps realized how little resources the Haughts had left and changed their minds.

She moved over to a small box on the council table at the head seat. It was a small latched box with the Haught sigil decorating the cover, and when she opened it, the official Haught seal was inside along with a small stack of treaties and a worn book that was starting to lose its cover.

Picking up the seal, Nicole turned the old book in her hands. It was written in an unrecognizable language, though Nicole admittedly was only familiar with the common language of the Western territories. She remembered a vague memory of her father showing her the book and saying it had always been in the box passed on from Haught heir to Haught heir, just like the shield. But unlike the shield, the book’s purpose had been lost over time.

“We used to have brains and brawn,” he joked. “But now I guess we only have brawn. Well, until you, little duck.”

Nicole put the book back into the box. Now that she was head of House Haught, she’d send for a scholar or maester to finally translate it. She’d need all the help she could get.

A knock at the door made Nicole take a deep breath. Back to the real world.

“Come in,” she called out.

She expected Nedley to return, perhaps loaded with documents to catch her up on their latest contracts with aiding other houses or collection notices, but when she saw Waverly’s face appear timidly around the door, she almost felt her heart stop.

God, was it always going to be like this with her? Even when Nicole’s world was turned upside down, one look from Waverly Earp was enough to take her breath away.

...But she’d have to forget that.

“Lady Haught,” Waverly greeted quietly, feeling out of place. Chrissy had insisted she ask Nicole for help right away, that the work would be good for her, especially in this troubling time. But seeing Nicole standing alone in her council chambers, her forced smile the only ray of light in an otherwise gray and dreary room, all Waverly desperately wanted to do was wrap her arms around Nicole and hold her until the world was a better place.

...But she couldn’t do that.

Instead Waverly closed the door behind her and just looked at her for a moment, trying to find the right words to say, _if_ there were any right words to say.

“Nicole,” she whispered. “I’m so, _so_ sorry.”

Nicole gave a tight smile, though her eyes started to fill with tears again. She looked down, shuffling some of the papers in the head’s box. “Thanks,” she uttered out, clearing her swollen throat. “It’s not your fault.”

 _But it is,_ Waverly wanted to confess, but she bit her lip and swallowed her words. “You’re going to be a great house head.”

Nicole turned her head back to Waverly, noticing that the icy demeanor she had gotten used to with her had suddenly melted away, and the kind look that she remembered the first day they met had returned. It disarmed her.

“Thanks,” she said again. “But I have no idea what I’m doing.”

A few tears escaped Nicole’s eyes, and as she quickly wiped them away, Waverly moved forward, allowing herself to stand next to Nicole and touch her forearm delicately with her fingertips.

“You’ll figure it out, and you’ll be great,” Waverly maintained.

The familiar tingles radiated on Nicole's skin from Waverly’s touch. Her gaze trailed from Waverly’s sympathetic eyes down to her fingers lightly stroking her arm. Each tiny movement was slowly eroding away Nicole’s composure, and she let out a shuddering breath.

“I can’t believe they’re gone,” she murmured, tears now flowing freely down her face.

Waverly knew that Nicole Haught was a strong person, certainly stronger than her and probably only matched by her older sister, Wynonna. She knew that ‘strong’ didn’t mean a person didn’t feel weakness or have moments of vulnerability, but instead how that person reacted to the challenges they faced.

She also knew from her sister that it was almost a sacred honor to have someone feel safe enough to feel weak in your presence. Even though it was hard to see Nicole this way, so different from the confidence she usually carried, it meant that despite Waverly pushing her away, Nicole still trusted her.

Waverly’s own eyes became watery as she continued to rub her fingers on Nicole’s arm. Without thinking, her hand slid down and her fingers laced with Nicole’s.

Nicole’s hand was warmer than Waverly had imagined, and she could feel worn callouses in her palm from years of combat training. But Nicole’s grip was strong and automatic, as though holding Waverly’s hand was something she’d done her entire life.

Nicole looked at their intertwined hands, then looked back up at Waverly. Waverly gave her a gentle smile, and Nicole was again taken aback by how a simple smile from this girl could make her feel so exhilarated and paralyzed at the same time.

With tremendous effort, Nicole broke their shared gaze and shifted her eyes away, taking in a sharp breath.

She could feel the edge they were dancing on, that they were daring. And that edge could be dangerous.

Within such close proximity to Nicole, Waverly’s mind had become that fuzzy feeling again, clouding her judgement and usual inhibitions. She wanted to take away Nicole’s hurt, take away her pain, and be closer…

Waverly surprised even herself when her free hand moved up to softly wipe a stream of tears from Nicole’s cheek and lingered there. Nicole looked at her again, and Waverly licked her lips instinctively, watching Nicole’s eyes flicker down to her mouth.

Nicole breathed slowly or maybe not at all, as a wave of dizziness overtook her when Waverly’s hand touched the side of her face. There was an irresistible pull toward toward her, an intoxicating aura that enveloped around them and pushed them together.

Waverly was so _damn_ beautiful.

Waverly’s heart pounded in her chest as Nicole inched closer. She closed her eyes in anticipation of when their lips would meet, feeling the warmth from Nicole’s breath. She could feel the desire between them, the feeling of want that had been shoved down and ignored until it was almost forgotten. She felt Nicole’s other hand reach up and lightly curl her fingers through her long hair, sending shivers up her body.

It would be so easy to be lost in her, to let herself be touched by her and feel her underneath her own lips and fingertips.

But it would have been _so_ wrong.

Waverly’s breath stopped as she felt Nicole’s lips brush her own ever so lightly, and Waverly regretfully turned her head then, feeling Nicole’s hesitation at the unexpected movement.

Nicole swallowed as her face turned warm at Waverly’s sudden rejection. A change of heart, though she could understand why - the ever-present thought of Wynonna loomed over both of them and returned to the forefront of their minds.

Nicole pressed a gentle kiss to Waverly’s cheek, staying by her face to remember the closeness she’d likely never experience again.

Now the moment in the library made sense, that immediate change in attitude from Waverly. But now Nicole was in too deep with Wynonna, and she couldn’t bear to let her down.

“I’m sorry,” Waverly breathed out. “We can’t.”

“I know,” Nicole conceded, though still remaining close, taking in her presence while she could.

Waverly nodded slightly as Nicole’s low voice tickled her ear. Her mind flashed a reminder of how easy it would be to turn her head and take back everything she said...

...But before she could change her mind, they heard the door to the council chambers swing open, and they both looked up from their precarious position.

Dolls entered the room quickly, staring briefly at them before shutting the door behind him. He cleared his throat, and they separated a few steps away from each other.

“Lady Haught, Lady Waverly,” he stated bluntly. His eyes shifted between Waverly and Nicole, and Waverly averted her guilty eyes.

“Sir Dolls,” Nicole answered calmly. “How can I help you?”

Dolls took a beat, trying to find the right words to say. He figured simple was probably best.

“Wynonna’s gone.”

 

* * *

 

The sound of galloping hooves thundered in Wynonna’s ears. The siege site was normally four days away by army march, but with just herself, she figured she could get there in a day and a half, maybe less if her horse could keep up the pace. She’d have to apologize to Nicole later for taking the fastest looking steed in the stables.

Dolls and Doc said she wasn’t ready, that she could only take down one revenant at a time, maybe a couple more with them as back-up, but Wynonna didn’t have time to be completely ready.

Besides, she only really needed to take down _one_ revenant - their leader, Bobo Del Rey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but it looks like I'll be posting on an every other week schedule for this story. You wanted some Wayhaught, right? :)


	6. Chapter 6

Shorty’s estate was colloquially known as Shorty’s Saloon in the Western territories due to the towering rock formations that surrounded his land and resembled swinging saloon doors. Their trade specialties in fine wine and the hardest liquor in the entire continent only further cemented their Wild West reputation.

“Sammy, I’m gettin’ an itch here,” a guard in tarnished armor whined. “Can we go back to town and get a townie? Just a _little_ one?”

Sam sighed. Guard shifts with Marty were the worst. “We’ve got four hours left to go. You don’t want to piss off the boss. You know what happened with Levi.”

Marty ground his teeth and twitched. There was nothing but desert sand all around, but if he stood downwind in just the right spot, he could smell the blood from the battle that happened only two days ago. It was mostly dried up or congealed in dirty puddles by now, but it was enough to make his mouth water.

“Heads up,” Sam said abruptly, pointing his chin at the something in the distance. “Maybe you’ll get your townie after all.”

Marty squinted ahead at the horizon, just making out a distant sand cloud approaching them. His neck jerked his head to the side in an involuntary spasm, and he grinned, his eyes turning a glowing red.

It was someone on a horse and as they came closer, Sam chuckled to himself. They had no idea--

_Shit._

When they could finally see who it was, it was too late. A huge sword swung out from the rider; a sword with glowing symbols along its blade. And though it was a giant great sword, the rider wielded it as though it weighed nothing at all.

The first pass took down Marty, the blade catching him in the chest, then slicing upward until he was nearly split in half. The Hell flames exploded from the ground and took him down in a shrieking mess.

She came back for Sam, slowing her horse down and pointing her sword at him. “Make your peace.”

“Fuck y--”

The way down to Hell was a lot hotter than he remembered, but the heir did quick work, he’d give her that.

 

* * *

 

Making her way through Shorty’s land had been easier than Wynonna anticipated. She encountered a few guard posts here and there, but it was simple enough to get rid of the few revenants there, especially since they hadn’t expected her.

 _Hell_ , if it was going to be this easy than getting rid of Bobo was…

Wynonna’s horse stopped suddenly, and Wynonna’s nose filled with the smell of dull iron. It reminded her of a blacksmith’s forge, of tournaments, of…

...of the medical maester’s tent in the back of tournaments.

She urged her horse into a trot, and soon it was right in front of her: the battlefield carnage Bobo’s men left for all to see.

They hadn’t even taken their dead back to be washed and honored, and the Haught scouts reported that the Del Ray army weren’t allowing anyone near site at all, despite centuries of well-known warfare etiquette - basic goddamn manners.

It was a mangled mess of bodies, shredded house banners soaked in blood, broken weapons, and nothing at all like the glory told in history books.

Historians always forgot to mention that every victory included losses, and losses were always paid in blood.

Movement in the corner of her eye grabbed Wynonna’s attention. Two soldiers were steadily making their way across the field toward her, and she unsheathed Peacemaker again from her back.

Two weren’t a problem. Two were easy as --

Another flicker of motion caused Wynonna to turn her horse abruptly around. Three more armored soldiers approaching --

_Clink clink. Clink clink._

Wynonna spun her horse around again and swallowed as more soldiers appeared. They were surrounding her, and even she had to admit that it would be difficult odds.

“Shortest heir ever,” Wynonna muttered to herself as the revenant soldiers closed in. Well, technically she wasn’t sure about that, but Waverly probably knew. She was always going to make a better heir anyway.

... _Shit_ , what was she saying? She couldn’t leave her little sister all alone.

Wynonna dug her heels into her horse and charged forward, swinging her sword at the closest revenant. The blade sliced cleanly through his skull, going down right between the eyes, and he sank screaming into the ground. She slashed at another revenant behind him, creating an angry burn mark across his body, then swung the blade back around to spear him through his helmet.

It always seemed a combination of surreal and natural whenever she used Peacemaker. It was no longer merely a heavy sword on her back that she had to carry around everywhere, but rather another part of herself. If she could think it, Peacemaker could execute it, even piercing effortlessly through heavy plated armor and chainmail. Together they became a force that was hard to deny as legendary.

But just like the First Earp and all the Earps after, even legends can be taken down.

There was a fifth portal to Hell, a sixth, seventh, even an eighth, but eventually one of the revenants caught her horse’s reins, causing her to fly off and fall heavily to the ground. But Wynonna still held Peacemaker in her hands, and she was determined to go down fighting.

“That all you revenants got?” she taunted out. Wynonna tried to keep her voice confident, but there was a slight shake in her grip on Peacemaker as she turned in fast circles to face all the red eyes staring back at her. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Dark laughter echoed around her. “Surrounding you?” one asked.

Wynonna pursed her lips. _Fuck._

Another revenant took a step forward, provoking Wynonna to swing Peacemaker recklessly at him. He calmly sidestepped her thoughtless attack and Peacemaker’s edge harmlessly hit the desert sand. Wynonna swung at him again, but he easily deflected her sword with her own.

“Now, now,” he drawled out. “Don’t get so antsy. Bobo wants to see you after all.”

“Bobo… wants to see me?” Wynonna asked in disbelief. “He knew I was coming?”

“Well, you didn’t think we did all this just for fun, did you?” the revenant asked, gesturing with his arms to the bloody battlefield. “Heh, on second thought, maybe we did a little bit for fun.”

Wynonna’s eyes widened. Her eyes darted over the slaughtered bodies and shattered remnants again. “For...me?”

The revenant grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellowed teeth. “Cheese in a trap no rodent could resist. Now be a good girl and go down quietly.”

Wynonna tensed her jaw, letting her anger seethe. “Like hell I --”

Someone hit her squarely in the back of the head with the hilt of their sword, making Wynonna collapse on the ground. Gritty sand filled her mouth, and she felt dizzy and the world was fading, but someone was picking her up, tying her hands, and slinging her across the back of a horse.

“They never go down quietly,” someone snipped.

“Wouldn’t be an Earp if they did.”

 

* * *

 

Wynonna’s face felt cold and dirty, and her tongue was dry as sandpaper. She groaned, fluttering her eyes open, and found herself looking right into the glowing eyes of Bobo Del Ray.

“ _SHIT!_ ” she cursed out, scrambling to her feet from the stone floor.

Bobo only grinned in reply, standing from his crouched position. Wynonna recognized him the few times he showed up on the Earp Homestead when she was young, her young mind distrusting his false smile even then when Bobo swore fealty to her father.

He looked exactly the same, right down to the perfectly edged beard and pompous fur cloak.

Wynonna reached a hand to her back instinctively for Peacemaker but grasped only empty air.

“I do apologize,” Bobo said. “But we couldn’t have you carrying around Peacemaker and getting rid of more of my men. You understand.”

Wynonna released a steadying breath, finding her confidence. She carefully scanned the room, realizing they were in the Saloon great hall. A crowd of men surrounded them, a mixture of revenants and humans. Outnumbered, no weapon.

“You wanted to talk?” she asked dryly.

“I’m glad we could skip the pleasantries,” Bobo answered, his grin widening. “Now, you might find this surprising, but we are actually on the same side. You and I _both_ want to get rid of the curse, but we have a slight… disagreement on how to get there.”

“There’s only _one_ way to get rid of the curse, Bobo,” Wynonna spat out.

Bobo clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, Wynonna. So closed minded. What if ending the curse was as easy as a moonlit stroll?”

Wynonna narrowed her eyes skeptically. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, Ward never told you?” Bobo asked, feigning shock. “He was always such a stickler for the rules. That’s why we had to get rid of him... and Willa.”

Anger surged through Wynonna’s body at Willa’s name, and she rushed towards Bobo, grabbing the sides of his cloak. “ _DON’T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!_ ”

Bobo only smiled back, which infuriated Wynonna more. “But you, you weren’t trained by Ward. You might be amiable to a deal,” he continued calmly.

Wynonna’s furious eyes bore into Bobo’s, and she shook off her grip on his cloak roughly. “What kind of deal?”

Bobo let out a laugh. “Now that’s a good heir. Reasonable. You’ll find that I’m a very reasonable man, Wynonna.”

“So get to reasoning,” Wynonna said impatiently.

Bobo laughed again. “You might already be aware from that smart sister of yours that us revenants can’t leave the Western territories. That we are bound by the borders unless we want things to get ugly. But break the curse our way, and we’ll leave the West and never return. You don’t have to worry about us, we don’t worry about you. Live and let live, as they say.”

Wynonna breathed slowly, trying to make sense of what Bobo was saying. Was there more than one way to break the curse? Did Waverly know about it and not tell her? 

She paused, rolling the words around in her head and ultimately what they meant. “No more of my people dying?”

“No more of your people dying,” Bobo confirmed. “I’m a man of my word.”

Wynonna wondered if a man of his word would swear loyalty to his lord, then return a few months later to kill him and his 13-year old daughter in the middle of the night. She wondered how even if _her_ people were safe, how would it be for the people in the North, the Eastern lands, or the Southern gardens?

Either way, more people would die. Would she allow it to be hers as it had been for generations or let it become someone else’s problem?

“Just a romantic walk in the moonlight, huh?” Wynonna asked.

“A walk across the border with a willing Earp during winter solstice, and then all of this goes away.”

Wynonna looked again at the crowd of grisly-looking men surrounding her, then turned her gaze back to Bobo with his smug grin.

A willing Earp. Was that the same as a resigned Earp, a _defeated_ Earp?

Wynonna forced a smile across her face. She couldn’t do anything...for now.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said in a strained cheerful tone.

The crowd raucously whooped around her, and Bobo raised his arms in triumph.

“Smart decision, Wynonna, very smart,” he started, after the room had quieted down. He snapped his fingers, and two large men stepped forward and grabbed Wynonna by the arms. “But we need a little fail-safe.”

“W-what are you doing?” Wynonna stammered as the men dragged her toward Bobo and pushed her down to her knees. “You want me to swear fealty to you? That’s not how this works.”

Bobo let out a laugh. “Even I know fealty from you means nothing. No, we need a little reassurance that you won’t go back on our deal here.”

“What? Okay, I swear I won’t back out on the deal!” The words tumbled out of Wynonna’s mouth as the men pushed up the cotton sleeves on Wynonna’s arms and shoved her roughly so that her arms were forced down on the floor.

Chin on the ground, Wynonna could barely lift her head to see Bobo standing in front of her. He snapped his fingers again, and another soldier came forward with Peacemaker.

Normally when revenants touched the Earp sword, the blade vibrated violently and burned their skin, even going through armor and clothes. But the man who brought Bobo Peacemaker seemed unaffected, and Wynonna could only assume he was from one of the minor houses that banded with the revenants. Even from her passive position on the ground, Wynonna glared.

Bobo picked up the great sword, and a sizzling sound could immediately be heard. The smell of burnt flesh filled the room, but Bobo kept his grip steady and bared his teeth in a sick smile.

“You see, I can’t have you out there with Peacemaker, ready to betray us,” Bobo said calmly as the sword continued to burn his hands. “So we need to make it so you _can’t_ use it. And don’t worry, we’ve got some good maesters that will fix you right up once we’re done here.”

His smile widened as he slid the sharp tip of Peacemaker lightly over Wynonna’s wrists. Just enough to cause a thin line of blood to prick through her skin.

_Holy shit._

“You don’t understand, I love my hands - I use them every day!” Wynonna yelled, panicking, suddenly realizing what was happening. She desperately threw her weight against the revenants holding her down, but they were strong and held her down solidly, and Wynonna could only tremble and feel her skin become slick with anxiety.

Bobo crouched down again and ran a grubby hand through her hair. “Shh, it’ll be over soon.”

He stood back up and aligned himself facing the side of Wynonna with her arms on the ground in front of him. He hefted Peacemaker’s blade into the air, and Wynonna closed her eyes tightly when he began to swing the sword dow--

_CLANG!_

Wynonna cautiously opened her eyes. Her hands were still there. She didn’t feel any pain.

She strained her head back up and found Nicole kneeling on the ground next to her, her left arm shaking slightly as she held the Haught family shield up, blocking Bobo’s strike.

Nicole smiled, that warm smile that slowly spread across her face, and Wynonna felt it - safe.

“Always prepared to help a damsel in distress, huh?” Wynonna asked through a shaky breath, her nerves still on edge.

“Ready to protect and serve,” Nicole grinned.

Wynonna suddenly felt the vice grips on her arms fall away, and she turned her head to see Dolls and Doc pulling their swords out of the revenants’ chests, their blades dripping with fresh blood.

Nicole stood up sharply, shoving her shield up to throw Bobo off-balance, and an arrow sunk into Bobo’s right eye. Wynonna snapped her head to the back of the room and saw Waverly with her bow, launching precisely aimed arrows into the crowd.

Bobo screamed in pain, dropping Peacemaker, and Nicole quickly kicked it toward Wynonna.

“Oh thank God!” Wynonna cried out in relief, clutching the great sword to her chest and kissing the hilt.

“Earp,” Dolls called out as he slashed at the soldiers surrounding them. “Less feelings, more sending revenants to Hell, please.”

Wynonna gripped Peacemaker in her hands and smiled, slowly standing up as the sword began to glow again. “Yes, sir.”

She swung Peacemaker in front of her, slicing a pair of red eyes cleanly down the middle, then spun around to swiftly stab a revenant rushing behind her. She turned back around to face Bobo, who still writhed on the ground next to Nicole.

As Wynonna approached, Nicole felt the Haught shield begin to hum. When Wynonna reached her side, a new feeling of strength coursed through her body and a series of orange symbols burst out across the front of the shield.

Symbols just like on Peacemaker.

Wynonna stared at the her shield. “Does it… do that?”

Nicole’s eyes met Wynonna’s in disbelief. “Never.”

Bobo’s good eye widened at the glowing sword and shield. “The Weapons,” he gasped out.

A revenant darted forward, twirling a sword in his hand, and Nicole moved forward, swinging out her shield to bash him back. The revenant was large and towering, more than twice the size of Nicole, but when the Haught shield connected with his body, he fell over easily and screamed out in pain. The same sizzling sound from when Bobo held Peacemaker filled the room, and Wynonna quickly slashed at the him while he was prone on the ground and the Hell flames took him away.

Wynonna let out an impressed breath. “That was fun. Let’s send some revenants to Hell, Haught.”

Nicole smirked. “As you wish, my lady.”

A new group of revenant soldiers rushed forward to defend Bobo, but Nicole and Wynonna moved smoothly together as though they had trained together their entire lives. Nicole surged forward with her shield to scald and knock them over as Wynonna backed her up by slashing and thrusting her sword between their eyes.

The chaos of battle churned around Wynonna, Nicole, Waverly, Dolls, and Doc throughout the great hall. Though ordinary weapons didn’t get rid of revenants permanently like Peacemaker did, they did temporarily take them out of commission until they regenerated. And any time they could do that as painfully as possible, well, that was a bonus.

As for the humans among them - the penalty for treason was death.

In the corner of her eye, Wynonna could see Bobo start to slink away, trying to escape amidst the confusion, and she quickly caught up with him.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she growled, remembering his casual comments about her father and Willa, remembering that he tried to take away her _fucking hands_. She lifted Peacemaker in the air. “Make your pea--”

Wynonna grunted in surprise as she suddenly found her body paralyzed against her will. Her arms were stuck with Peacemaker in midair, and she darted her eyes around the room and found everyone else in the same frozen predicament.

The sound of hollow clapping bounced off the walls, and Wynonna looked across the room to see a blonde woman dressed in white with a menacing smile on her face.

“My, my,” the woman giggled, slowly making her way through the still crowd. “This took quite a _dramatic_ turn, didn’t it?”

She walked up to Wynonna, her body in mid-attack and Peacemaker still lit up with orange runes. The woman ran a hand lightly down the blade and looked over at Nicole a few feet away, her shield glowing and just colliding with a soldier’s chest and smoking from the contact.

“The Weapons are back together,” the woman observed. “That’s a big no-no.”

Wynonna tried to force air through her throat, tried making her vocal cords work, but all she could manage was a tiny grunt from deep within her chest.

The woman looked at Wynonna and glared, annoyed at her defiance in an otherwise silent room, but she quickly shook it off and settled the eerie smile back on her face. “Oh, how rude of me,” she said in fake politeness. “You have no idea who I am. I’m Constance Clootie.”

Constance lightly patted one of Wynonna’s clenched hands as an introduction, then drew her face close to her ear. “Or as Earp, First of His Name, called me: the Stone Witch.”

Wynonna’s eyes shifted nervously. The Stone Witch? Wasn’t that the villain in the bedtime stories her father told her and Willa to scare them into behaving? Wasn’t she always described as icy beautiful with a voice that drew you in while it chilled your very heart?

Oh shit.

Constance’s steely smile widened as realization formed in Wynonna’s eyes. “So you _do_ know who I am,” she purred delightfully. “Well, let me tell you how this is going to go, Wynonna. I need my revenants for a little side project - I can’t have you ruining that for me. _But_ once I’m done, you can go back to trying to end that Earp curse of yours.”

She waved a hand and the revenants and traitorous human soldiers were released from their invisible hold. They grumbled bitterly, but obediently began leaving the estate.

Bobo shot Wynonna one last wry smile before disappearing among his men.

Wynonna’s body quivered the slightest bit as every fiber of her strength strained against the rigidity spell. But that was as far as she got.

“Now, dear,” Constance said once the room had cleared. “Don’t violate the Agreement again or I won’t be so nice next time.”

Constance met Wynonna’s angry glare for a moment and giggled again. “You’re so much more fun than Ward, I can tell.”

She waved her hand again, simply vanishing into thin air, and Wynonna and the rest of the group fell to the floor as they were released from their frozen states.

Wynonna scrambled to her feet and ran to Nicole, grabbing her by the edges of her chest plate. “Why did you follow me? They killed your parents! An entire _fucking_ army!" she shouted. "Why would you do something so stupid, _Nicole_?!”

Nicole’s eyes filled with guilt as Wynonna yelled at her, but she suddenly laughed and dropped her gaze for a moment, tightening her mouth to hide a grin.

Wynonna narrowed her eyes in a mixture of anger and confusion. “Why are you laughing?!”

Nicole pressed her lips together to keep her smile contained, but her brown eyes had that playful twinkle that made Wynonna’s glare falter. “You only call me Nicole when you’re mad at me.”

Wynonna opened her mouth for a smart reply but only managed out an annoyed huff. She shoved Nicole back, letting go of her armor, and crossed her arms. “...Shut up, Haught.”

Nicole’s grin trickled across her face then, and Wynonna couldn’t resist letting her own lips twitch into a tiny smile.

“I don’t mean to intrude on this joyous reunion,” Doc called out, wiping his blood stained blades on a ripped banner. “But what _is_ the Agreement that woman was speaking of? And the Weapons?”

Wynonna shrugged then shifted to Dolls, who only stared blankly back.

A nervous cough brought everyone’s attention to the back of the great hall.

Waverly held up the tattered book that had been in the head box at Haught’s Keep.

“I think I have an idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to TheGaySmurf for helping me slowly figure out the Wynonna Earp mythology (I guess I didn't really pay attention when actually I watched the show, ha) and for helping me iron out the logical kinks for this chapter.
> 
> And thanks to everyone for reading as always! Not so much romance in this update, but I hope you liked the action stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

It was cold. Damn cold.

Why did revenants always have to hide out in the cold?

“Aveline, stop thinking about how cold it is and get over here.”

Aveline rolled her eyes. Somehow he always knew what she was thinking. “Alright, alright. Don’t get your moustache in a twist, Earp.”

She jogged to catch up with him, a shining shield on her arm and a giant sword on his back. Villagers always commented on how they looked like a mismatched set: a fire-haired woman and a raggedly dressed man, both with weapons that looked too unwieldy for any one person or perhaps should have belonged instead to one fantastical warrior.

But when people saw how they moved together to kill the demons that plagued them, how their weapons could subdue even the fiercest monsters, they went silent with awe.

“It’s fucking cold,” Aveline complained when she reached Earp’s side. She huffed out an annoyed breath that crystallized in the bitter air for emphasis.

“It’s the West, it’s winter,” he shrugged. “Pick another topic.”

“Okay,” she sighed. Sometimes it was better to be miserable with company, but Earp never seemed to care about the cold. “You think it’s time you told me your first name?”

He laughed. “You think it’s time you told me your _last_ name?”

She scrunched up her face. “Maybe later.”

Earp laughed again, his mustache hiding a smirk. “It’s kind of our thing, isn’t it? You go by your first name, and I go by my last?”

“I thought our thing was, you know, killing revenants,” Aveline countered.

She snuck a glance over at him, and he could see the playful shine in her eyes that made their long journeys across the West more tolerable. He knew he could be too serious, too focused on the mission of sending revenants back to the other side of the Veil, and Aveline could remind him of humanity and of himself; even with something so small as a passing glance.

“Maybe we have two things,” he mused quietly. Without looking over, he knew she was smiling.

They walked quietly together a few more paces but halted suddenly. 

Dark red blood spattered across the white snow.

The blood covered two sets of tracks, though one was a set of boot prints noticeably messier and more erratic than the other.

“Too late?” Aveline asked breathlessly after a moment.

“This was recent,” Earp answered, pulling his great sword, Peacemaker, from the scabbard on his back. “They’ll be close.”

Aveline glanced at her shield on her left arm, looking for any hints of light on the gray metal. It always lit up whenever a revenant was nearby, but right now it stayed its usual color.

She followed the tracks as the snow bank veered downward and saw them disappear ahead.

“Earp--”

Aveline felt her shield hum before it glowed orange, and she instinctively raised it over her head as a heavy thump slammed onto it, shrieking and scratching. Burning smoke filled the air from revenant contact, and she peered over her shield to see the usual demon eyes glaring back at her.

She ducked just as Peacemaker swished above her head toward the revenant, but the demon leaped back quickly and bared his sharp teeth.

“Don’t cut me, Earp!” Aveline called out, annoyed, but he was already moving past her, sprinting after the revenant, and she charged after them.

The revenants varied in their combat skills; some were only dark-hearted common folk who were sent to Hell and snuck back across to fulfill their darkest desires before they were taken down easily by Peacemaker. Others were veteran fighters and warlords that required more strategy and finesse before Aveline could make them stumble for the split second Earp needed to deliver his blade between their eyes.

This one seemed to know what to expect, expertly dodging just out of reach when Aveline rushed forward and deftly maneuvering from Peacemaker’s slashes.

Aveline dug her feet into the snow to stop herself after another missed charge and spun around, swinging her shield to catch the his back side but felt only empty air when she pushed her arm out.

“ _AVELINE!_ ”

She felt it before she understood what was happening - a heavy breath on the back of her neck then a shredding explosion in her gut that made the world flash white with pain. Aveline gasped, then looked down, seeing a bloody hand protruding through her abdomen, piercing straight from her back, and hot blood leaking down and steaming in the snow.

Aveline looked back up to meet Earp's face, the most frightened she had ever seen him despite all the monsters they'd faced, and she knew it was bad.

Well, if she was going to die, she was going to take a revenant down with her.

Aveline grabbed the hand that ripped through her stomach to hold the revenant in place and slammed her head back to connect solidly with the his face. Sticky blood sprayed behind her, and that was all Earp needed to catch up and stab Peacemaker into the demon’s skull.

He caught her as she fell down, the Hell flames tearing the supernatural away from the human world behind them. He gently laid her down on the snow and started pushing down heavily on her belly to try and stop the bleeding.

“It’s fucking cold, Earp,” she murmured, trying to stay conscious though the world seemed to be slipping away.

“I know, I know,” he whispered quickly, watching the slick blood endlessly seep through his fingers. “You gotta stay here, Aveline. You gotta -- WITCH!”

He turned abruptly away from her and called into the winter air. “STONE WITCH! I KNOW YOU’RE FOLLOWING ME! I’M READY TO MAKE AN AGREEMENT NOW!”

Aveline fluttered her eyes, and a woman dressed in white suddenly appeared next to Earp.

She was smiling, but it was the kind that never went past her curled lips.

“I knew you’d call sooner or later.”

“You said you wanted to make a deal with me,” he asked hurriedly, ignoring the smugness that emanated from the woman’s face. “A life for a life - that’s how it goes, right? My life for hers!”

“No…” Aveline protested weakly, her fingers weakly squeezing Earp’s forearms.

The Stone Witch let out a shrill laugh. “Normally you’d be right, but there's an evil in this world far greater than your revenants, and it’s coming. Your descendents will be needed, Earp.”

“So what kind of agreement are you bartering for, Witch?” He looked at her skeptically, but Aveline’s wound continued to darken the cold snow, and he knew there wasn’t much time.

The Stone Witch widened her smile, stepping delicately around the red puddle that was growing larger around Aveline’s pale body. “The demon kings aren’t too happy with you and your little sidekick, though I do see the usefulness of less of their kind up here. That said, we can’t have you eradicating _all_ of them, so I’ll need you to make a little promise that you’ll be leaving her behind.”

“Leave Aveline? Forever?”

“You’ve gotten the ancient Weapons back together, and that’s just a bit too much in your favor, Earp. You can keep your Peacemaker and she can keep her shield, but you can’t work together again.”

Earp swallowed slowly, his mind flashing back with all the revenants they’d sent back to Hell, all the people they’d saved. His eyes moved back down to Aveline, whose breathing was becoming shallower with every breath.

She’d done more than enough for him.

“She dies old and warm in her bed, not out here in the cold. And keep her family safe,” he demanded.

“Done.”

The Stone Witch shifted behind him and waved her hand over Aveline’s body. Her wound began closing itself up, her body creating and knitting flesh back together until Earp felt only warm skin beneath his hands.

“She needs to sleep now. You can’t be here when she wakes up,” the Stone Witch said coolly.

“Her shield will keep her safe from revenants?” he asked.

The Stone Witch let out another laugh. “Her shield won’t exactly work without Peacemaker, but no enemies will be able to walk on her family’s land, as long as an Earp stays off too.”

He glanced over at Aveline’s shield. It looked so deceptively ordinary when it was dormant. Time would forget how menacing it looked when fierce runes splashed across its front as it charged forward and knocked over gargantuan enemies as though they weighed nothing.

But she’d be safe... as long as he stayed away.

Aveline’s eyes were getting heavier, but at least the pain was gone. She grasped Earp’s arm again.

“Don’t go, Earp,” she whispered.

He forced a smile and hoped his mustache wasn’t trembling and giving his emotions away. He leaned down to press his cheek against hers. “It’s Wyatt. Wyatt Earp.”

As Wyatt pulled away, Aveline let a warm smile trickle across her face. “Hey Wyatt, I’m Aveline Haught.”

He laughed weakly. “Haught, huh?”

Aveline deepened her smile, letting the dimples show in her cheeks. “Yeah,” she said, watching his face soften. “Farewell, old friend.”

“I’ll see you on the other side, Haught.”

 

* * *

 

__“...and when I awoke, I was back at the Keep. I’m not certain how long Wyatt’s agreement with the Witch must last, but she said his descendents were important to fight the greater evil, so I know that was the last time I’d see my friend. Aveline Haught.”_ _

Waverly carefully closed the old book. The book was written in the language of the First Men, and it had been difficult to translate as she read out loud, but she was glad all her studying had finally been put to use.

“Well, _shit_ ,” Wynonna blurted out. “We’re not supposed to go on Haught land?”

“You’re apparently not supposed to fight alongside Haughts either,” Dolls commented, shifting his eyes between Peacemaker and the Haught shield.

“The McCreadys must have never known about this,” Wynonna said, piecing together all the new information. “And Daddy was only training Willa… _shit!_ How did we fuck this up so bad?”

“ _You_ fucked things up?” Nicole interrupted. Her usual calm face was twisted in anger and frustration at her family’s own incompetence. “ _We_ had it all written down, but we were too stupid to understand it!”

The room went quiet. Normally so level-headed and composed, no one was quite sure how to react to Nicole’s exasperated outburst.

Wynonna reached a hand over and squeezed Nicole’s forearm gently. “Okay, both our families are fuck-ups.”

She smiled softly at her, and Nicole’s frustration fell away as she released a sigh. Wynonna was right, it didn’t matter who messed up or when - but they had to catch up, fast.

“Am I the only one who believes we’re in a rather favorable position?” Doc asked after a beat. “We’ve got _two_ legendary weapons that will wholeheartedly decimate the revenants and end the curse! What better news could there possibly be?”

“And what about the ‘greater evil’ Aveline mentions in her journal?” Dolls pressed.

“We’ll take it as it comes, but right now our problem is revenants, and the revenants we shall vanquish,” Doc answered determinedly.

“I’m not so sure we should keep the Weapons together,” Waverly interjected. “I mean, what if the Stone Witch comes back for the life she saved back then since we violated the Agreement?”

Waverly looked hesitantly toward Nicole, but she quickly moved her gaze down when their eyes met. Nicole looked back to Wynonna who stared intently at her.

Back for the life she saved - a Haught life.

“Waverly’s right,” Wynonna agreed. “It's too dangerous.”

“It actually might be interesting to see--” Dolls started.

“No.”

Dolls tensed his jaw but remained quiet when Wynonna glared firmly at him.

“We head back to the Homestead at first light,” Wynonna continued. “Dolls, you go back to the Keep with Haught and get our men and things. Then we can regroup and--”

Nicole’s eyes flashed up at the mention of her name. “I’m going with you.”

There was that fierceness again, and Wynonna let out a slow breath as she was taken aback. Since when did anyone ever want to follow _her_?

“The Keep needs you right now,” she said gently. _**I** need you,_ tried to escape her throat, but Wynonna swallowed it down. Years of disappointment made it easier to tamp down her emotions, though it wasn’t necessarily easy, just...easier. 

And it was decidedly getting harder and harder with Nicole.

“And you want me to just… _stay_ there?” Nicole asked incredulously. “When all _this_ is happening?!”

“I…” Wynonna started. Her voice trailed off, and her mind raced trying to figure out what to say, what was _safe_ to say. She still had to be careful and shove reckless, dangerous words back down before they spilled out.

_I need you._  
_Alive._  
_Even if it’s not with me._  
_Just alive._  
_Somewhere._  
_Safe.  
_ **_Please._ **

“I can’t… _risk_ you,” Wynonna finally stumbled out, forcing out each sound, over-enunciating each calculated word. They were words that could have been replaced with something else if she didn't pause and choose them carefully. Something more vulnerable ached to be said, but she couldn’t let herself say those words that were trapped and scraping against the inside of her chest.

Nicole opened her mouth to say something, to fight back, but there was a weakness in Wynonna’s face that made her breath stop and cool the fire that burned in her conscience. “...okay.”

“Okay,” Wynonna sighed, relieved.

“Now that it’s settled, I do recommend our fair ladies get some shut-eye before the sun decides to rise,” Doc suggested.

They had travelled back to the main roads after the encounter at Shorty’s Saloon, wanting to put as much distance as possible between the revenant army and themselves and intending to return to the Keep. They stopped and made camp near the midway point, finding a shallow cave a couple miles off the road for coverage. Wynonna wanted that - she wanted solid walls surrounding her so that no one could sneak up on them, though the new element of witch magic made even _that_ an unsure thing now.

Wynonna rolled out her sleeping mat at the back of the cave with the wall close to her right side, while Doc, Dolls, and Waverly continued to speak in quiet voices just outside around a fire. Waverly’s eyes darted over while she listened to Dolls’ plans for the morning, stealing a glance as Nicole followed Wynonna and put her mat down next to her.

“You look tired, Haught,” Wynonna said as they laid down, noticing the pronounced dark circles under Nicole’s eyes. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Three nights ago?” Nicole guessed. She wasn’t entirely sure - _a lot_ had happened in the past few days, and her mind was becoming more and more sluggish as sleep became a low priority.

Wynonna turned on her side to face her. She did look tired. What was three nights ago? Before Nicole had offered to stay up all night and watch over her while she slept? Before Nicole’s parents died? Before Wynonna ran off to exact some impossible revenge plans so Nicole had to ride through the night to come and save her?

Nicole’s face looked gaunt in the dim light and her eyes were bordering on bloodshot, but she was still Nicole. Nicole who didn’t even bat an eye about the Earp curse, who fought revenants as comfortably as she battled normal men, and who was there, next to her, still watching her, waiting for her to fall asleep first.

There was something happening behind Wynonna’s eyes, though Nicole couldn’t pin down exactly what. Wynonna’s eyes seemed to swirl with a mixture of worry and hesitation as they searched her face, and Nicole just let her look at her. She was tired, _so_ tired. If she blinked for a moment too long, Nicole was sure she would have fallen into the deepest sleep. But Wynonna needed to look at her, and so she had to stay awake.

Wynonna watched as Nicole’s eyelids became heavier and how she was forcing herself to stay awake. For Wynonna, sleep was an elusive thing, something that came in fits and starts. She doubted it would be any different tonight, despite the fights and discoveries that happened only hours ago.

Slowly, Wynonna reached out her hand and placed it on Nicole’s cheek. Her thumb gently stroked a dark bag under Nicole’s eye. “How about I stand guard while you sleep tonight?”

“Well, lying down isn’t a very good guard position,” Nicole joked, though her words were slurring together from her exhaustion and a drawl was coming out.

Wynonna smirked. “You’d be surprised by what I can do from this position.”

Nicole laughed, a little hiccup giggle that Wynonna recognized from when she indulged in a little too much wine at dinner, and then Wynonna could feel herself begin what she thought was impossible.

Fall.

Wynonna’s hand was still resting on Nicole’s cheek, and Nicole grasped Wynonna’s wrist. Her fingers ran lightly over the cut Bobo inflicted earlier when he threatened to take Wynonna's hands away.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” she whispered.

Wynonna’s lips twitched and she moved her hand to intertwine her fingers with Nicole’s. “Never better,” she said, letting a soft smile form, despite herself. “Now go to sleep, Haught.”

Nicole let her eyes close. “As you wish, m…”

Wynonna let out a quiet laugh as Nicole’s tired mumbles dissolved away. When Nicole’s breaths deepened and Wynonna was sure she was dead to the world, she brought their clasped hands to her chest and pressed a light kiss on Nicole’s hand.

“Goodnight Nicole.”

 

* * *

 

Waverly tried to pay attention as Doc and Dolls talked about alternate routes to return to the Homestead, but her mind kept wandering to the back of their makeshift shelter and the drifted whispers that had gone quiet.

As the fire burned low, Waverly found herself fighting to keep her head up, and Doc chided her to get some rest.

“W-what about Wynonna and Nicole back there?” she stuttered.

Doc tilted his head, listening. “Sounds like they’re both asleep. And I don’t think Wynonna would try anything with her little sister sitting only 20 paces away.”

He grinned and winked, and Waverly smiled at his gentle joke. She nodded goodnight to them and walked slowly with her sleeping mat to the back. She _was_ exhausted.

She stumbled but caught herself when she saw Wynonna and Nicole both sleeping while facing one another, their hands loosely together between them. Waverly hadn’t expected _that_.

Wynonna shot awake at the sound of Waverly’s echoing feet, sitting up and instinctively grabbing Peacemaker’s hilt. She sighed with relief when she saw Waverly’s surprised face. “Jeez, Waves,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. “People are trying to sleep back here. Try to be more considerate?”

Waverly’s face scrunched up with guilt. “Sorry,” she whispered.

Wynonna shrugged and stretched, standing up. “I gotta pee anyway.”

Waverly rolled her eyes as Wynonna staggered past her, her footsteps ten times louder than Waverly’s had been. She looked back at Nicole’s sleeping body, seemingly unaffected by the noise, and she wondered if Nicole was so well-trained that she could filter out inconsequential sounds or if she was just that tired.

There was a decent amount of space next to Nicole along the opposite wall from Wynonna, and Waverly spread out her mat and laid down, careful to sleep on her side facing away from them. She tried not to think about how Nicole was only inches away or how Nicole’s back seemed to radiate heat onto hers. 

Being so close and hearing each of Nicole's sleepy breaths made Waverly's heartbeat thunder in her ears, and she hoped no one else could hear it in the quiet air.

There was a rustling, and then Waverly heard Nicole roll over, throwing an arm casually over Waverly’s waist.

Waverly inhaled sharply as a thousand little shivers burst across her body from Nicole's touch. She carefully moved a hand over Nicole’s to move her but froze. Waverly knew she should push Nicole’s arm back and shift away, that Nicole had probably moved unconsciously in her sleep, but... was she actually awake?

They agreed to stop this, to think of Wynonna first. Waverly _clearly_ told Nicole they couldn't, and yet if she was awake now and continued... Waverly couldn't encourage it, couldn't allow it. She had to...

The feeling of Nicole’s slow breaths on the back of Waverly's neck told her that she was still sleeping.

She couldn't encourage anything if Nicole was sleeping, right? Nicole wasn't even aware of what she was happening.

With tricky logic and in spite of herself, Waverly closed her eyes and released a small sigh. Nicole curled around her, gently breathing into her hair. 

Wynonna would be back any moment, but she could do just a second more, just one more second, and then Waverly would _definitely_ …

Loud footsteps approaching made Waverly’s eyes fly back open, but before she could push Nicole away, Nicole naturally retracted her arm and rolled back over to her previous position. Waverly heard Wynonna lay back down, and her soft snores soon followed.

Waverly swallowed as her heart hammered against her rib cage.

She was sleeping. Nicole had been asleep. She didn't know what she was doing.

...Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, avrilsky posted TWO updates on her amazing fic, From Afar, so I thought I better get at least one update on this one before she laps me again. (Sidenote: if you're not reading From Afar, what are you doing with your life??)
> 
> Hope you liked the flashback and a little bit of Wynaught and Wayhaught. Which one did you want for endgame again?
> 
> I also stole a line from Jessica Jones because it's awesome.


End file.
